Castaways
by Dynasty Black
Summary: Rating has been changed for obvious reasons.
1. All Grown Up

Ideas in my head. That's all I can say.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything; so don't try to sue me.

**Chapter One: All Grown Up**

Ten years have passed since the battle with BelialVamdemon. The original digidestined have all graduated from college and are moving on with their lives, with the exception of Taichi not cutting his hair, which is slowly grating on Sora, his wife's nerves. She threatened to use a weed whacker on him one day. The younger digidestined are in college studying for their own careers. Iori was getting ready to graduate his senior year of high school at the age of 18, and would soon be joining the others in college, studying law firm. Before his grandpa died the prior summer, he became an expert in kendo, and every now and again, he still practices at it to keep up his skills. Miyako, at the age of 22, has grown to be a fine young woman. She still wears glasses, and her hair's still lavender, but she's dropped her short fused temper, and is now studying for Home Economics. She plans to be a housewife when she marries her long-time boyfriend Ken, who is studying to be a detective. Although he's a year younger than Miyako, he's a hand span taller than her. They don't let the age difference get in the way of their love for each other. Daisuke, now 21, has grown up a lot from when he was younger. He still held on to his dream to open up his noodle cart business, and he still plays soccer, which is what got him the scholarship into college, and he still has the goggles. He's now taking business and account classes. He's matured a lot over the years as well. He dropped the fiery temper he once had, and even stopped fighting with Takeru for Hikari's affections, especially since they're in-laws. Jun and Yamato got married about a year ago in March, and while Takeru wasn't too happy about being Daisuke's brother-in-law, Daisuke, on the other hand, seemed nonchalant about it, as if he didn't care. Takeru and Hikari are the same age as Daisuke, and each takes a few of the same classes as him. Takeru is taking advanced language arts to become a book writer, and Hikari is studying to be a schoolteacher. Amazingly, they all attended the same college.

Over the years things have changed in light of a select few individuals. Hikari and Takeru have been dating since senior high school, and they even share a dorm together. This didn't surprise anyone. They had a feeling that the two of them would wind up together. What did surprise them, however, was Daisuke's response to the whole thing. He just shrugged it off like it wasn't a big deal. Daisuke was known around school for having a major crush on Hikari, who in turn, would turn down his every approach. She would even go to extreme as to flirt with Takeru right in front of him, just to see his reaction. So, it was a great shocker at the time when the trio met up in the hall between classes. Daisuke was at his locker getting his books out for his class.

'I hate Geometry,' he thought to himself, getting out his Geometry book and a notebook labeled Geo. 'It's so boring.' He closed his locker and turned just in time to see Takeru and Hikari at the other end of the hall. 'Great, the peanut gallery's here,' he thought, rolling his eyes and sighing. He began walking in their direction, since his class was down that way. Hikari looked up and saw him approaching.

'There's Daisuke,' she thought to herself. 'I wonder what he'll do this time.' So, in fact, did everyone else in the hallway. They knew the history between the two, and they were ready to laugh at Daisuke's next embarrassing moment. Hikari hooked an arm with Takeru's, who was smiling the whole time since he knew what was to come.

"Hi, Daisuke," Hikari said cheerfully, waving at him.

"Mmm," Daisuke responded in a monotone voice as he passed them, giving them a small wave. Everyone stopped what they were doing and stared at Daisuke as he made his way down the hall, seemingly lost in thought. Hikari and Takeru were stunned. Did they see right? Did Daisuke, the boy who had a crush on Hikari since 5th grade and would do anything for her, just walk past without saying a word or giving a second glance? Surely it had to be a fluke! There's no way that Daisuke wouldn't respond to Hikari's approach. But it didn't stop there. He ignored them at lunch, even while they were amongst the group who were equally shocked at how Daisuke was acting, especially since he opted for his study book instead of ranting and raving as he always has when he was around everyone. Miyako thought that he might have been sick. Daisuke assured her that he was feeling dandy, and told her that a phrase like that was pretty redundant. Hikari figured that she would have a talk with him in science class. Since they were dissecting frogs that day, she knew they would be lab partners. That should get him to notice her. But lo and behold, even in science class, he paid no attention to her, or even her subtle advances. Instead, he started singing to himself, bobbing his head in time to the beat that played in his head. Needless to say, this stole the breath out of everyone, including the teacher. It really boggled the teacher that he made an "A" on the assignment.

And so it went, Daisuke ignoring the couple that hooked up before graduation, up until now. Daisuke knew that Takeru and Hikari shared a dorm together, but he didn't care about that. It seemed that his main priority was to finish college and open up his noodle cart business.

"I don't understand it," Hikari said to Takeru one evening while they were sitting inside their dorm. "He's been doing this since high school."

"You sound like you miss his reaction towards us," Takeru said with a small grin.

"Well, I do kinda miss his ranting over me," Hikari responded, grinning lightly.

"Maybe he's finally decided to admit that I had a better chance with you than he did."

"You really think that's it?"

Takeru gave a light shrug. Just then, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in!" Takeru called. The door opened to reveal Ken's face. He poked his head inside the room and looked at Takeru and Hikari.

"Hey, guys," he said.

"Hey," they said together.

"What were you two doing?" Ken asked slyly with a grin, noticing their positions on the bed. Takeru had his arms around Hikari who was resting with her back on his chest, and her head on his shoulder.

"Nothing," Takeru snapped, shooting a glare at Ken. "What do you need?"

"I was wondering if any of you seen Daisuke around. I have to tell him about the boat trip we're taking this summer."

"He wasn't in his room?" Hikari asked. Ken shook his head.

"I looked everywhere," he said, coming into the room. "Any of you have his cell phone number? I can try giving him a call."

"I'm surprised you don't have it," Hikari said, digging into her pocket for her pink cell phone.

"I'm obviously the only one who doesn't. I figured since we hang around together so often, I wouldn't need it." He took Hikari's phone and copied the number onto his own phone. "Thanks," he said, leaving the room.

"What boat trip was he talking about?" Takeru asked.

"Don't be stupid!" Hikari said. "The one we've been planning all weekend."

"Oh, yeah. That one. I wonder why Daisuke didn't hear about it."

"He must have been too busy. I didn't see him anywhere when we were discussing it."

"Busy with what, I wonder?"

"Playing with himself, maybe."

This drew a laugh out of Takeru. "Wonder where he is now?" he said, thoughtfully.

"Probably at the soccer field."

"Who knows? Wanna go get something to eat?"

"Yeah, I am a bit hungry," Hikari said, getting up. "Where do you want to go?"

"How about that restaurant around the corner?" Takeru suggested, slipping his shoes on.

"Why not?" Hikari put on her shoes and the both of them headed out the door.

Meanwhile, at the soccer field, a lone guy with spiky brunette hair and a pair of goggles resting on top, a red and white soccer uniform, and white tennis shoes, stood behind a row of soccer balls.

'Man, I can't believe how fast soccer season came and went,' he thought to himself as he did a few stretches. 'Well, at least we went out with a bang, and took the gold cup in the process.' He looked towards the field house where the trophy was sitting in the window. Though he was too far away to see the words inscribed on it, he knew what they said:

Odaiba College Wolverines

Winners Of This Year's College Championship Gold Cup

Special Thanks To Daisuke Motomiya, Our Most Valuable Player

Daisuke wasn't too fond about the last part, even though it was quite true. His coach made a special request to the officials that it would be added on there.

"The crowd was huge that day," Daisuke said to himself as he returned to his stretching. "Almost everyone was there, except Takeru and Hikari. No telling where they were."

"Probably somewhere behind the bleachers smooching," said a voice behind him.

"Hey, Ken," Daisuke said, turning his head toward Ken. "How'd you find me?"

"Your answering machine," Ken said, holding up his phone. "It said, and I quote, 'this is my voice mailbox. If I don't pick up, I'm either asleep or on the soccer field'. End quote."

Daisuke gave a huff and returned back to stretching.

"Are you getting ready for soccer season? It's not until next fall."

"No, I'm just practicing my martial arts."

"When did you start taking martial arts?"

"I've been doing it since eleventh grade. I started out with Karate and moved on to Dim Mak."

"Those are the only two styles you've taken?"

"Nope," Daisuke said, getting on the ground to do more stretches. "I know about eleven different styles, and I'm a first degree black belt in each of them. I'm working on my second degree in a few of them."

"You've been busy since the eleventh grade, have you?" Ken asked sarcastically.

"Well, aside from the fact that I took gymnastics in tenth grade, taking state champion on the floor exercises and the uneven bars, I'd say things have been pretty productive."

Ken quirked an eyebrow as he watched Daisuke fold himself like a wallet as he stretched his arm past his foot. "Why are you training in your soccer uniform anyway?"

"Couldn't find my training gear," Daisuke responded.

"So what are the soccer balls for?"

"Stick around and you'll see," Daisuke said, switching feet. "So what brings you around? You're obviously not here to discuss my improbable flexibility."

"I wanted to know if you heard about our boat trip this summer."

"Yeah, Iori told me about it."

"So are you coming?"

Daisuke looked up at him. "You think I'm going to stay here the entire time? Of course I'm coming." He stretched both legs in front of him, then bent them as he rolled onto his back, and did a perfect kip up that was a bit too fluent for Ken to comprehend.

'Wow,' he thought to himself. Some light giggling caught his attention, and he turned his head towards the bleachers where a small group of football cheerleaders were sitting. They were staring at Daisuke dreamily, and were talking about him under their breath.

"Wow, he's sooo handsome."

"I can't believe that Hikari girl chose that blond head over him!"

"Her loss. Look at those muscles."

"I wonder what he's like in bed."

The last statement by one of the girls caused them to giggle madly. Daisuke overheard them and sighed in contempt.

"Looks like you have a small fan club," Ken said, grinning.

"Bah. Just a bunch of girls who want me because of my looks."

"You make it sound like a bad thing."

"You try having ten girls chase you around campus. Besides, I don't want anyone that will go for me just for my looks. I want them to know exactly who I am on the inside."

"And who are you on the inside?"

"That's none of your business," Daisuke said, moving behind the first ball. "Now step back. I don't want to kick you."

Ken stepped back, looking at the soccer goal. "Daisuke, exactly how far are you from the soccer goal?"

Daisuke looked up. "Since I'm at half court, I should be about fifty or so yards from it."

"Think you can kick it that far?"

"Just watch," Daisuke said with a grin. He positioned the ball between his feet and slowly turned his body to the right. Then, in one quick movement, he did a spinning jump that caused the ball to get tossed upwards, and he completed the maneuver with a strong forward roundhouse kick that sent the ball flying towards the goal, all before he touched the ground. The ball screamed through the air, leaving a transparent wind trail in its wake. It dipped low to the ground, skimming over the grass and causing the blades to shake at its passing, before abruptly shooting up into the goal net, where it was stopped.

Ken stood there, gawking. "H-h-how'd you do that?" he stammered.

"By focusing energy into my foot," Daisuke responded. "It's one of the methods of Tai Chi."

"Uh, Taichi?" Ken echoed.

"No, not Taichi, _Tai Chi_," Daisuke stressed. "It's a type of martial art form that mostly deals with breathing but also teaches you to focus your energy towards any point on your body."

"So why do they move so slow when they do it?"

"The slow movements are to help maintain your balance. You'll find that if you move slow, you have more control of your body, versus moving too fast and breaking a bone." Daisuke moved behind the next ball. This time, he got into sort of a power stance- one arm bent at the elbow pointing upwards, the other one bent downwards, legs shoulder width apart and partially bent.

"This is a stance from Hung Gar," he explained. "Its style is pretty much strength based."

"Sounds like something the Earthbenders used on that cartoon show Avatar," Ken said.

"Something like that," Daisuke said. "But a bit more advanced." With his back foot, he stepped forward onto the edge of the ball, causing it to flip into the air about a foot in front of him. He kicked the ball fiercely with his other foot in a strong side kick. Once again, the soccer ball went zooming through the air, but instead of skimming over the ground, it kept on a direct course for the net.

"GOAL!!!" the girls shouted from the sideline, throwing their hands in the air.

"Good grief," Daisuke said, looking towards the sky.

"You should consider yourself lucky," Ken said. "Not many guys around here are that popular with women."

Daisuke shot him a glance. "Speak for yourself," he said, moving to the next ball. He finished kicking the soccer balls, each kick more elaborate than the next; each ball sent careening for the net. By the time he was done, he was panting lightly and a thin film of sweat was on his brow.

"You done?" Ken asked.

"Yeah, I'm finished here," Daisuke said, heading towards the bleachers to where his bag was. "Usually I'd go longer, but there seems to be quite a crowd watching me." Unfortunately, his bag was on the same bleachers that the groups of girls were sitting, and as he reached for it, hoping to just grab it and bolt away, one of the girls grabbed his hand.

"Hey there, Daisuke," she said in a seductive voice. "You look tired. Why don't you come with us and we'll give you a rub down?"

"Uh, that's okay," Daisuke said, prying his hand from hers and backing up. "I'll manage just fine without one." He bumped into another girl who was standing behind him.

"Oooh, Daisuke," she cooed, wrapping her arms around him and rubbing his muscular stomach. "Your muscles are so tense. Let us help you relax."

"L-look, ladies," he stammered, breaking out of her grip. Soon, he found himself surrounded by the group, each one touching and feeling on him. Though he was trying to get away, Daisuke didn't want to hurt any of them, but as he felt a certain appendage in his lower region starting to slowly defy the law of gravity, he knew he had to do something.

Ken, on the other hand, was enjoying the show. For the life of him, he couldn't understand why Daisuke wouldn't just settle down and take one of the girls that constantly vied for his affection. He noted with interest that although Daisuke grew up and matured in certain areas of his personality, he was still pretty stubborn in certain aspects. He noticed Daisuke having trouble with the group of girls and decided to interfere.

"Excuse me," he said, stepping towards the group. As one, all heads turned to him.

"Yes?" said one of the girls.

"I'm sorry to interfere," Ken started off, bowing deeply with his hands clasped in front of him. "But if you keep hoarding over him like that, then there's a chance that he won't have the energy to perform for you next time." He straightened back up and grinned at them.

The girls looked at him slightly confused. "Uh, you think that's true?" one asked another.

"I dunno."

"What should we do then?"

"I guess we let him go. I don't want to take the risk of him passing out next time."

"I guess you're right."

The girls parted their small circle to let Daisuke pass by. As he did, one of them pinched him on the butt, making him jump with a yelp of surprise and look back at them.

"You go back to your dorm and get some rest," one of them said. "Let us know how you're feeling in the morning."

"'Bye, Daisuke," they all sang together as they turned to leave, giggling amongst themselves.

"God, help me," Daisuke moaned, hanging his head.

"Don't worry, he will," Ken said, patting him on the shoulder as they left in the opposite direction from the girls.

"By the way, thanks for the save," Daisuke said.

"Hey, that's what friends are for," Ken said. "Besides, you have to know cheerleaders. They'll believe anything you tell them, as long as you make it sincere."

"I'll keep that in mind. Where's Miyako?"

"She's back at the dorm. I was dumb enough not to ask her for your number. I could have called you then instead of going to Takeru and Hikari's room."

"I didn't give Miyako my phone number anyway. It's enough I have to hear her talk about you the whole time, I don't want her calling me and telling me what you guys did the night prior."

"She does that?"

Daisuke shot him a sarcastic look.

"Oh. Right," Ken said, rubbing the back of his head. "Want to go get something to eat later?"

"Yeah, sure. After I shower up and everything. I'll meet you at your room in about half an hour, okay?"

"Okay."

"Hey, Ken. Did you find him?" Miyako asked as Ken came into the room.

"Yeah. He said he's coming with us on the boat trip," Ken said, kissing Miyako on her forehead.

"You sound a bit worried. What's wrong?"

"Nothing. I'm just worried about Daisuke."

"What do you mean?"

"Miyako, do you think he's completely over his crush on Hikari?"

"I don't know. I mean, he hasn't mentioned anything about her; he barely talks to her when she's around, only saying hi and bye. If you ask me, I think he's finally gone nuts."

"Nah, he's alright. My guess is that he wants to take his time with things. You have to admit, he has matured over the years."

"You're right. Our little Daisuke has grown up into a man."

"Right now, I just wish he would settle down with one of those girls that are always fawning over him."

"You mean those preppy tramps? Eww! Even the football team doesn't mess with them! The only thing they go for is what's between a man's legs."

"I know. I just saved him from a pack of horny vixen a few moments ago. We're going to get something to eat when he finishes showering. Wanna come with?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"Probably to that place around the corner. I heard they're pretty good."

"That sounds great."

"He should get here in the next fifteen minutes or so. That gives me time to find my wallet. By the way, did you know that he took martial arts?"

"Really?"

Fifteen minutes later, there was a knock on the door.

"That you, Daisuke?" Miyako asked.

"Who else would it be?" Daisuke said.

'I guess some things don't change,' Miyako thought as she opened the door to reveal Daisuke dressed in a red skin shirt that showed his muscles, tucked into a pair of baggy blue jeans with wide pale streaks running down the front, and covered half of his black Heeley shoes. His jeans were held up by a black braided belt that had a silver buckle, and a necklace that had a small black ring dangling from it hung around his neck. His goggles still maintained their position on his hair, which was combed and sleeked back.

"You look like you're getting ready for a hot date," Miyako said, moving so Daisuke could come into the room.

"If I was, I wouldn't be here," he said. "Where's Ken?"

"Right here," Ken said, coming in from the bathroom. "Good grief, Daisuke. We're just going to get something to eat, not the club."

"Most of my other clothes are packed up. This is all I had out to wear that was decent. So, where are we going to eat?"

"We're going to that place around the corner."

"That's a buffet, isn't it?"

"I think so. I haven't been there myself, so I can't tell you."

"Well, now that we're ready, let's go," Miyako said, heading towards the door. Daisuke and Ken looked at each other and shrugged before following Miyako out the door.

"Boy, that hit the spot," Hikari said, as she and Takeru walked from the restaurant hand in hand.

"Yeah. I never would have thought I'd eat so much sushi," Takeru said.

"I wouldn't be surprised if you ate the whole sushi stand."

"What can I say? It's the best sushi I've had in a long time."

"Speaking of which, what time is it?"

Takeru looked at his watch. "7:42. Why?"

"We have to finish packing our stuff for the trip."

"Hikari, we have all day tomorrow to pack, the trip isn't until the day after."

"Oh, yeah. So what should we do now?"

Takeru looked up at the full moon. "Well, the night is young, and you're so beautiful," he said.

"Takeru Takaishi, if you start singing that song from Robin Hood: Men In Tights I'm going to hurt you," Hikari said, threatening him with a fist.

"I'm only kidding," Takeru chuckled, holding his hands up in mock defense.

"You'd better be," Hikari said, wrapping her arms around his neck, as he pulled her by her hips into an embrace. "Otherwise, I'd have to punish you."

"Ooh, is that a promise?"

"Want to see it come to pass?"

"I'll settle for an example," Takeru said, as their lips met each other in a kiss.

"Why don't you guys get a room?" someone said. They looked up to see Ken, Miyako, and Daisuke looking at them.

"Oh. Uhh, hi guys," Takeru stuttered, rubbing the back of his head. "We didn't hear you sneak up on us."

"That's because we didn't sneak up on you," Ken said. "You two were so busy exploring each other's mouths that you didn't hear us."

"Hey, that's low!" Takeru complained. "So where are you guys going?"

"To get something to eat at the restaurant."

"You mean the one we just came from, right around the corner?"

"Yeah, that one."

"Well, in that case, I suggest you try the sushi. It's the best."

"That's if he hasn't eaten it all," Hikari chimed in, getting a glare from Takeru. She smiled at him, and then looked at Daisuke, who was looking at them expressionless. "Hey, Daisuke. Why are you so quiet?" she asked.

"I didn't know I was supposed to talk," he responded. This drew a light chuckle from Ken, who quickly covered his mouth.

"We'll see you guys later," Miyako butted in, before anything would ensue.

"Okay, have a good time," Takeru said as the three walked off. He turned to Hikari. "What was that all about?"

"Got me," Hikari said. "It still surprises me that he doesn't have a reaction towards us anymore."

"I guess he did get over his crush on you then, huh?"

"I guess you're right."

"Daisuke, I'm curious," Miyako said, looking at him.

"About?" Daisuke asked, not looking at her.

"About you and Hikari. Are you really comfortable with her dating Takeru?"

"Miyako!" Ken jumped in, looking at her.

"It's okay, Ken. Personally, I can care less who she dates, just so long as she's happy."

"So you do still care about her?"

"To a point. I still have a heart."

"What made you stop trying to get with her?" Ken asked.

"After everything that we've went through, even after the defeat of BelialVamdemon, she still avoided me. So after many failed attempts to try to get her to notice me, I figured what was the point of trying to get with someone that won't even give me the time of day? So I just said forget it. Of course, it hurt for a while, not being able to get anywhere near her since Takeru was always around, but I've gotten used to it."

"You know, that's something else I've noticed," Miyako said. "Even before they got together, Takeru sort of forced himself around Hikari at every possible moment, whereas you let her have her space."

"You're right, that is weird," Ken said. "I've also noticed that he still gets slightly defensive over her now, even though you aren't after her anymore."

Daisuke just shrugged. "Guess I don't seem to notice," he said. "Well, here we are."

"Doesn't look too big," Ken said, looking at the one-story building.

"But the food smells great," Miyako said, sniffing the air. "Let's go!"

It was about 8:15 when they left the restaurant. The moon was shining brightly, there weren't any clouds in the sky so the stars were visible, and the air was warm. For Ken and Miyako, it was a perfect night for a stroll. They contemplated on this when they realized Daisuke was still with them.

"Go on ahead," he said. "I'll just go for a walk on the beach."

"Are you sure?" Ken asked.

"Three's a crowd, right? Besides, I have no interest in listening to your lubby dubbiness. See ya." And without waiting for an answer, he turned and walked off.

"I actually feel sorry for him," Miyako said, watching him walk off. "For a long time, he was after a love he couldn't have, only to find that she didn't want anything to do with him. Now he's just giving up."

"It's sad, really," said Ken as they began to walk. "I'm sure someone will comfort his loneliness soon."

"Or Hikari will get a change of heart and stop torturing him."

"Well, whatever happens, I hope that it's for the best."

Daisuke found his way to the beach, and was walking along it, staring out at the water and the reflection that the moon made on it. While he was walking, a song from the restaurant called Tainted Love kept replaying in his head, and he would sing a few lyrics from it. Every now and again he would stoop down and pick up a rock and toss it over the water, causing it to skip across the surface. He got an idea when he picked up a flat, smooth, oval shaped stone.

'This is just the right size and shape,' he thought. He looked around. 'Since no one's around, I guess I can try it.' He stepped back a few paces from the water's edge. He looked at the stone and tossed it lightly in the air and caught it again. He looked up back at the water again, and in one fluent movement he did a 360 on his right foot, planted his left foot on the ground, and arched his right arm back.

"KIYA!" he shouted as he threw the stone with a fierce sidestroke. The energy he put into the throw caused the stone to shoot out of his hand like a bullet, spinning over and over very fast, causing a small horizontal tornado to appear behind it, and caused the water to part underneath its passing. The stone flew some fifty or so feet over the water, before falling into it with a distant plop.

"Well, I see I still got it," he said, resuming his walk. As he passed under the fishing dock, he noticed two people afar off, a boy and a girl, playing around in the sand.

"I hope that's not who I think it is," he said to himself. As he got closer, he noticed the boy's hair was dark and reached his neck, while the girl's went down to her back and was put in pigtails.

'Is that...Iori?' Daisuke thought. He got a little closer. 'It is him! How in the world did he get a girl?' He figured he'd find out later, so he crossed over to the other side where the wall was, hoping they wouldn't hear him, but the girl happened to look up from her position on top of Iori, where she was kissing him.

"Oh, sorry sir," she said, quickly clambering off of Iori and dusting off her two-piece yellow swimsuit. "We didn't realize you were-" She stopped when she got a good look at him. "Have we met?" she asked, tilting her head to the side.

"Can't say that we have," Daisuke said, looking past her at Iori, who was dusting off his blue swim trunks as he got up from the ground. "Iori, what's going on?"

"Hey, Daisuke," Iori said. "What are you doing out here?"

"Walking," Daisuke said bluntly. "It's pretty obvious what you're doing, so I won't ask."

"Uh, he he," Iori blushed lightly while rubbing the back of his head. "You remember Rosa, don't you?"

"Not entirely. Where'd we meet?"

"It was sometime during the fight with BelialVamdemon," Rosa said. "I was one of the chosen children from around the world. My partner was Gotsumon."

"Huh," Daisuke huffed. He noticed that she had a thick foreign accent. "Where are you from again?"

"Mexico," she said. "My family transferred here when my dad got a good deal at his job. That's when I met Iori here. He taught me how to speak Japanese, and from there..."

"Ugh. Spare me the details," Daisuke said, cutting her off.

"Why are you out here by yourself?" Iori asked.

"Isn't it obvious? Do you know anyone else that would be willing to take a moonlit walk with me on the beach? I came out here to clear my head, hoping I wouldn't have to see anymore couples around here. But I guess fate had other plans for me."

"Sorry I asked," Iori said.

"It's alright," Daisuke said, closing his eyes. "I just haven't been myself as of late. Anyway, I'm going back to the dorm and get some sleep."

"You're still coming on the boat trip, right?"

"Of course. I'm not staying here by myself the whole time." He turned and walked off. "See ya," he said, with a wave.

"Why's he so apprehensive?" Rosa asked when Daisuke was out of earshot.

"Long story," Iori said. "Right now, I'm trying to remember what it was that we were doing."

"Don't tell me you forgot already!" Rosa said playfully, turning towards him. "I was teaching you how to properly kiss a lady."

"Would you mind giving me a refresher's course?" Iori asked, slyly.

"I'd be glad to," Rosa said, wrapping her arms around his neck and planting a kiss on his lips. They both fell back onto the sand and resumed their passion making.

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You say, "Mister Joiner, why'd you stop the other story?" Because I felt like it, that's why! Y'all weren't reading it anyway. I didn't stop it, actually. My fourth chapter got erased when I took it to the computer shop, so it will take me a while to write it again. This is just something else I decided to do. Hopefully, you'll like this one. Please read and review, and tell me what areas I need to improve on.


	2. Burn

Thanks for the reviews. A story's a story, no matter if it's out of character or not.

Disclaimer: I don't own jack.

**Chapter Two: Burn**

"Friends ask me how I feel, and I lie convincingly

'Cause I don't want to reveal the fact that I'm suffering

So I wear my disguise 'till I go home at night

And turn down all the lights

And then I break down and cry..."

_Breakdown- Mariah Carey_

Half of the next day was spent with everyone packing for tomorrow. Almost everyone had about two or three bags with them full of clothes and other gear. Daisuke packed only one bag. He found out that it was only for a week, so he unpacked most of his clothes. He wondered why they were packing so much for just a five day trip, unless he missed something. And why is it five days anyway? He was thinking about it when he got a call on his cell phone.

"Yeah," he answered in his monotone voice.

"Daisuke, where are you?" asked the speaker of the voice. It was Ken.

"I'm in my room laying down. Why, is there something going on that I didn't hear about?"

"Not entirely. Everyone's meeting at the bleachers on the soccer field to talk about tomorrow."

"When?"

"In a few minutes. I'm heading over there right now."

"Alright. I'll be there."

"Okay, see you."

Daisuke hung up the phone and looked over at the clock on his nightstand, which read 4:23 p.m. With a sigh, he got up and slipped on his shoes. 'I've got a few questions anyway,' he thought as he headed out the door. As he was heading towards the soccer field, he noticed how empty the campus was, except for the scattered few that decided to linger about instead of going home for the summer.

"My, this place is empty," he said to himself, looking around. He noticed Hikari off to his right, walking by herself. 'Gee, I wonder where Takeru is,' he thought sarcastically. 'Oh well.'

'Where's Takeru?' Hikari thought to herself. 'I know he told me he'd meet me at the soccer field, but he's been gone most of the afternoon. Not that I'm worried, I'm just curious. He's been acting strange around me lately these past few days.' She looked around the campus lot, noticing how quiet it was, except for the scant few crowds scattered here and there, no doubt frat groups deciding what to do for the summer. Her eyes settled on a certain brunette-haired goggle head. 'Daisuke,' she thought. 'Maybe he knows where he is.' It was pointless, she knew, but it was worth a shot. She crossed over to where he was walking.

Daisuke looked up at the sound of his name being called. 'Oh, no,' he thought, watching Hikari jog over to him. 'So much for the silent treatment.'

"Daisuke, have you seen Takeru?" Hikari asked when she caught up to him.

"It's nice to see you too, Hikari. I'm doing well by the way," Daisuke said.

"Huh?"

"No, I haven't seen him. What made you think I would, anyhow?"

"I was just asking. Have you noticed how strange he's been acting lately?"

"Can't say that I have. Was I supposed to be observing him?"

"No, I'm just saying-"

"I don't recall being told to keep a record book of how many times Takeru acts strange. Let me guess, it's written down in the manual he came with?"

"Daisuke, what's gotten into you?" Hikari said sternly, stopping him on the sidewalk. "You've been avoiding me since high school, _and _you've been acting mean to me and Takeru ever since we hooked up! If Takeru hasn't been acting strange enough, you take the cake!"

"_I'm_ acting strange?" Daisuke said, placing his hand on his chest. "So I guess you don't find it strange when your oh-so-perfect boyfriend tends to act like an idiot whenever I'm around. If anyone needs to do a little more observing on him, it's you."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

Daisuke turned and walked off briskly with an annoyed sigh. "Think about it," he said, turning towards her before walking off again.

"Daisuke, you made it," Ken said, greeting his friend.

"So I did," Daisuke said as they slapped hands. He noticed a slightly surprised tone in Ken's voice. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing, why?"

"You seem nervous about something."

"No, everything's fine."

"Whatever. What's this all about?"

"Come sit down. We're getting ready to talk about it now."

"Hey, Hikari," Takeru said, greeting Hikari with a kiss.

"Hey, Takeru," Hikari said, returning the kiss. "Where were you all afternoon?"

"I had to take care of a few things. You weren't worried about me, were you?"

"Just long enough to miss you."

Takeru chuckled a little. "Oh, Daisuke," he said, getting Daisuke's attention. "There's something I need to tell you later."

"You can't tell me now?" Daisuke asked.

"Has to be in private, after everything is over with."

"Whatever."

"Now that everyone's here, let's discuss about tomorrow," Miyako said, getting everyone's attention. "Anybody got any questions on what's going on?"

"Yeah, I got a few," Daisuke said. "Why in the world are you packing so much stuff for a five day trip? We're going to be on the boat the whole time, aren't we?"

"No, we'll be making a few stops here and there. This is more of a tour than a boat ride."

"And just how did this come about anyway? What happened, someone won some kind of contest?"

"It had nothing to do with any kind of contest," Iori cut in. "Some rich guy got the idea to build an expensive boat two years ago, and decided to give the graduating high school seniors of this year a free ride and a tour as a graduation present for his son. He also said we could bring however many friends we want."

"Must be a pretty big boat," Daisuke said, leaning back onto the bleachers. "So 'rich kid's dad' is giving the seniors a boat ride and tour. Did he say where we were going?"

"We won't know until tomorrow," Rosa said.

"Well, I guess that answers all of my questions," Daisuke said, sitting up.

"Anyone else have any concerns?" Miyako asked. No one answered. "Great! We set sail at noon, so be at the ferry port at eight thirty. Everything should be set up by then."

"Whoa, why so early?" Hikari asked.

"Security check," Iori said. "And given how many students were in my graduating class, it'll be a while."

"Oh."

"Hikari, I'll meet you back at the room. I have to talk to Daisuke right quick," Takeru said, as everyone went about their way.

"Okay, but don't run off," she said, kissing him on the cheek.

"Alright, what do you want?" Daisuke asked when Hikari left.

"My, we're hostile today," Takeru said with a grin.

"Takeru, don't start with me, I'm a little agitated right now, okay? So just hurry up and tell me what you want so I can go."

"You know, it'll do you good to get some fresh air every-"

"Cut the mess and tell me what you want!"

"Alright, alright," Takeru said, digging into his pocket and pulling out a small black box. He handed it to Daisuke. "Take a look at that."

With a sigh, Daisuke opened the box. Inside was a nice, expensive looking gold ring.

"What'd you do? Sell your momma's Bimmer to buy this?" Daisuke asked.

"Har har," Takeru laughed dryly. "Just take a good look at it."

The top of the ring was encrusted with diamonds that were cleverly placed in the shape of the Crest of Light. He noticed some words engraved on the inside of the ring. He took it off the grey cushion and examined it:

Hikari + Takeru 4ever

Daisuke felt heat coarse through his body, and had to mentally restrain himself from crushing the ring in his hand. He put the ring back into the box and closed it, handing it back to Takeru.

"Why did you show me that?" he asked.

"Because you were the last to know. I plan to ask her tomorrow night on the boat. What do you think?"

"Takeru, take a good look at me. Does it look like I give two cents about what you plan to ask Hikari?"

"There's no need for you to be rude."

"There wasn't any need for you to show me that ring, either."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Takeru, you know well enough what I mean. Excuse me." He walked past Takeru.

"Woo, I think someone's jealous," Takeru teased, watching him leave. Daisuke stopped and turned around.

"Takeru, you have nothing for me to be jealous about," he said. "I mean that." He turned and resumed walking.

"Daisuke, you okay?" Ken, who was watching the conversation from a distance, asked Daisuke as he walked past.

"I'm fine!" Daisuke snapped, brushing past him. Ken looked up as Takeru walked towards him.

"What did you tell him?" Ken asked him.

"Nothing. I showed him the ring, and he figured it out all by himself. It's not my fault that he's jealous," Takeru said.

"You know you didn't have to do that."

"Hey, he was going to find out regardless, right? Besides, he should have known years ago that I was going to win Hikari. We've known each other since childhood."

"So is that what this is about? Still holding on to the rivalry thing?"

"Look, the boy needs to grow up, okay? Hikari needs someone that will give her the love that she wants."

"And you're going to give it to her?" Ken asked, sarcastically.

"Yeah. What, you have a different opinion?"

Ken scoffed at him. "Do my opinions matter to you?" he asked. "Listen to yourself, Takeru. Do you really think you're ready to do this, or is it just to get ahead of Daisuke? From what you're telling me, you'll be giving her the love that _you _want, not the love that _she needs_."

"And you think Daisuke can give that to her?"

"I don't know, but I _do _know this. If you don't slow your role, you're going to lose a whole lot more than Hikari."

"What do you mean?"

"Think about it." Ken turned and walked off.

"Is everyone against me now, because I want to marry Hikari?" Takeru asked himself. "I mean, come on! I wasn't the one who was always tripping over myself just to get next to her."

_But you _did _smother her at every possible moment, _said a voice deep down inside of him. _You were jealous of Daisuke, and still are, as a matter of fact. You knew Daisuke was better than you at a lot of things, and would eventually end up with Hikari. So every time they were together, you intervened, and said things about Daisuke that made her distrust him, and made him look and act like a fool._

Takeru stood there for a moment, then started laughing at himself. "Nah, it's not that," he said. "Me and Hikari grew up together, so it would be natural for her to like me."

_Doesn't matter how long you've known a person, _said the voice. _First loves are hard to let go._

Takeru didn't understand that last statement. But for some odd reason, he felt like he knew what it meant. "Nah," he said to himself after a minute, brushing it off and walking towards his dorm.

"How's Daisuke doing?" Miyako asked Ken, who came walking in the room after visiting Daisuke.

"He should be doing fine," he said. "He went to the gym to blow off some steam."

"I knew what Takeru told us was going to hurt Daisuke."

"He didn't seem hurt. He was probably just hiding it. Personally, I'd rather see him with Hikari instead of Takeru."

"Weren't they together at one point?"

"I haven't a clue." He went and sat on the bed. Miyako got up from the chair she was sitting on and went to stand in front of him. She put her hands between his thighs and pushed them apart, so now she was standing between his legs. She wrapped her arms around his neck, and pressed her body against his, so that now he was looking at the tops of her ample breasts through the white v-neck shirt she was wearing.

"Uh..." he said, at a loss for words.

"Don't 'uh' me. You know what I want," she said, grinning at him.

"You really don't have to force me," he said, looking up at her.

"You know you like it," she said, kissing him on the lips.

Daisuke had been in the gym for three hours. He was the only one there, so he had all of the equipment to himself. The only thing he used, though, was the large, black punching bag that nearly reached the ground. At the moment, he was practicing Shoot Boxing on it. Instead of wearing boxing gloves, he wore a pair of open finger ones, no shoes on his feet, red boxing shorts, and since he figured there was no one in the gym, he wore no shirt. Daisuke thought to come to the gym after speaking with Ken to clear his head, but the thoughts running through his mind were anything but pleasant.

'Why should I care if they get married?' he thought. 'It's not my business.' No matter how hard he tried not to think about it, the images kept running through his head. Takeru and Hikari would be at the altar exchanging their vows, he would be somewhere in the congregation being forced to watch. He would see them being given permission to kiss, and the scene would suddenly change to a nice hotel room where Takeru would make Hikari his. She would be panting and moaning madly while holding on to Takeru's neck as he boned her to no end until she would climax, screaming out Takeru's name as she did so. So vehemently lost in thought he was, that he didn't realize how hard or how fast he was kicking the bag.

"You sure you're kicking that thing hard enough?" said a female voice behind him that made him turn quickly in a defensive stance. He dropped his stance when he saw the woman dressed in a red sports bra that stopped just above her well-toned abs, blue spandex shorts, and a pair of ankle high cross training shoes. A white towel hung aroung her neck, and her long red hair fell over it.

"Hey Saki," he said.

"'Hey' yourself," she said, walking towards him. "What's gotten you so worked up?"

"Nothing, except I thought I would be the only one here."

"Dai, don't play with me. We've known each other since first grade, so I know when something is wrong with you."

"It's nothing to be concerned with," Daisuke said, turning his head away from her.

"It must be. Otherwise, that bag wouldn't be in the state that it's in." She pointed at the bag, which had a slight impression in it from where Daisuke had kicked it.

"Oh, uh..." Daisuke said.

"Plus you have this habit of turning your head when something's wrong and you don't want to tell me."

"Am I that obvious?"

Saki nodded her head. "So lay it on me. What's going on in the mind of Daisuke Motomiya?" She took off her towel from around her neck and sat down on a nearby bench. Daisuke followed her.

"You remember Takeru, right?" he began.

"How could I forget him?" she asked. "I've been after that idiot since the first day I saw him."

"Yeah, well you know that he's been dating Hikari since high school, right?"

"Tragically, yes."

"He just told me earlier today that he plans to ask Hikari to marry him."

"So? What's it to you?"

"That's what I'm stressing about! I could care less about their relationship, or even if they do get married. It's the way he said it to me."

"Did he say, 'Daisuke. I'm going to marry Hikari, and there's nothing you can do about it'?"

"Not exactly. He showed me a ring he got for her, and I put two and two together."

"So it was indirect?"

"Yeah."

"Ah," she said. She studied him for a second. "Something else about the situation is bothering you."

"Why do you say that?" Daisuke asked, looking at her.

"Because _he_ wouldn't be standing at the position of attention right now," she said, poking a finger at his erection straining at his shorts. Daisuke looked down and turned red in the face. He quickly got up and turned away from Saki, who was giggling lightly.

"I-I'm sorry..." he stuttered.

"For what? Because you had a hard on in front of me?" Saki said, laughing. She got up and moved in front of him. "Look, there's no reason to be embarrassed around me. There isn't anything about a guy that I haven't seen."

"How many boyfriends have you had?"

"None. I've only had sex one time, and that was back in high school, which was about three years ago."

"Whoa."

"Yeah. The guy I was with was an idiot, and I was horny. So, what else were you thinking about that arose such eroticism? I don't suppose it was your anger?"

"I had a fantasy of Takeru and Hikari having sex, which added to my anger. Then I saw you, dressed like that, and, well...you get the picture."

"Yeah, I get it. I'm not mad at you, so stop flinching like I'm going to slap you, because I'm not. I'm going to help you."

"How?"

"Well, you're angry, right?"

"Yeah?"

"And at the same time, you're in need of some release, right?"

"Uh...yeah."

"Then that settles it. Let's have sex."

"W-what?!"

"Look, Daisuke. You can only hold out for so long before things start to happen. Trust me, I've been there. Masturbation can only go but so far before you get tired of using your hand and start craving for the real thing."

"Wait, wait, wait," Daisuke said, backing up. "How in the world is having sex with me is supposed to help me out?"

"Daisuke, I'm going to be quite frank with you," Saki said, sighing. "I've been wanting to have sex with you for a while now. Only two things held me back. You were too stubborn, and I was too scared. Right now is as good a time as any."

"But come on, Saki," Daisuke started before being cut off by Saki.

"And don't even try me with the 'you're like a sister to me' bit, because we're not related, and I don't think of you as my brother. You're my friend, and I'm here to help you. If you want, you can pretend I'm Hikari."

Daisuke looked at her. "You're actually serious about this, aren't you?" he asked.

"Yes I am," she said, nodding. "Besides, I'm in need of release myself. I was just heading to my room to take a shower and do just that, but then I saw you trying to break your leg. Plus, I'm curious as to how you would measure up to Hikari if she were to be with you. This will be just to calm you down so you won't have anymore undesirable fantasies of people you don't want to see, get what I mean?"

"Yeah, I get it. But wouldn't you be trying to get with me afterwards?"

"Honey, I am not looking for a relationship right now. I'm still aiming for Takeru. Hopefully, they don't get married and break up."

"That's a little harsh, isn't it?"

"I don't think so. You still like Hikari, right?"

"Not entirely."

"Liar. If you didn't, you wouldn't have had that fantasy. Just keep up your hopes. Things will work out."

Daisuke conceded to her point. She was right, of course. And since he was aroused, he noticed how enticing she looked to him. 'Well, when in Rome...' he thought.

"Alright," he said. "But if we're going to do this, I'd rather for us to be clean so we won't catch anything."

"The showers are in the back," Saki said. "We can use those."

"Feeling better?" Saki asked Daisuke when they were heading back towards the dorms. It was about nine o' clock, and everyone was back in their rooms. A few lights dotted the buildings here and there, indicating people were still up.

"Yeah. Thanks," Daisuke said.

"Hey, what are friends for? Besides, you were hurting."

"Still feels weird, though."

"What, that you had sex with someone you knew since grade school?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, good grief."

"Hey, you know what they say. Friends before lovers. You're going on that boat tour thing tomorrow?"

"Yep."

"I'll be there too. One of my cousin's were in the graduating class and he invited me to come."

"Cool. I'll see you there."

"Yeah. Listen, Daisuke. Don't give up. I believe that you'll get her eventually, just as I believe that I'll get Takeru one day."

"You really think so?"

"Of course. If push comes to shove, we can always get together."

"Okay, that would be scary. We're too much alike."

They shared a laugh. "Hey, if you ever need help with anything like that again, you kno who to call," Saki said. "I'll be more than willing."

"I'm sure you would," Daisuke said. "You nearly burst my eardrum from how loud you were screaming. You're lucky it was only us two."

"Ah, whatever. I'll see you tomorrow," she said, turning towards the direction of her dorm building.

"Goodnight Saki, and good luck."

"Same to you, Daisuke."

-------------------------------------------------

This is shorter than the one on The one there is not suitable for those that are faint of heart, or are just plain too childish to read such stories.


	3. Stormy Seas

I got my first flame. Cool.

Disclaimer: You know it, I don't own it.

**Chapter 3: Stormy Seas**

The next day, the ferry port was a seething mass of high school graduates, all anxious to get on the boat and be on their way. Among them were the family and friends they were given permission to bring along, and since it was only for the seniors, no one under the age of eighteen could come, with the acceptation of those that were under-age graduates. The parents weren't able to come either, which lead to a bit of a protest, but the owner of the boat reassured them they will be in the utmost care with the security he has on board. Everyone had at least three or four bags full of personal items and clothes with them, which meant security check was sure to be a bit of a hassle.

"Anyone see Iori anywhere?" Takeru asked, looking around the crowd.

"I can't see a thing with all of these heads in the way," Miyako said, slightly annoyed. "Ken, do you see him?"

"Do you want to know the answer to that question?" Ken asked.

"Where's Daisuke?" Hikari asked.

"Late, as usual," Takeru said.

"That's probably the only other thing that hasn't changed about him," Miyako said.

"What hasn't changed about me?" a voice asked behind them. They turned around to see Daisuke walking up with Iori and Rosa. "Took you guys long enough to get here. I thought you would have gotten lost."

"Daisuke how long have you been here?" Ken asked.

"Since 8:15," Daisuke replied, smiling. "I came here with Iori and Rosa."

"Wow, for the first time in his life, Daisuke is on time for something other than a soccer game," Miyako teased.

"Shut up, meathead-AAAH!!!" Daisuke was cut off as a strong punch found its way to his ribs, doubling him over.

"You knuckle brain, you tried to leave me!" said a slender, redhead girl.

"I nearly got away with it too," Daisuke croaked out, standing up while holding his ribs. "That wasn't necessary."

"You'll be alright."

Daisuke glared at the girl. "Guys, this is Saki. Saki, guys," he introduced quickly.

"Uh, nice to meet you," Miyako said, slightly stunned.

"Likewise," Saki said, grinning. She turned to Takeru, who was staring at her. "Hey, Takeru."

"Huh? Oh, um, hi," Takeru stammered, breaking from the trance he was in. "How do you know my name?"

"High school. You may not remember me, but I remember you quite well."

Hikari didn't like the way Saki was talking to Takeru, and for some odd reason she couldn't explain, she didn't like the way she hit Daisuke. Hikari felt a tinge of jealousy run through her. The funny thing was, even though it was over Takeru, her jealousy leaned more over to Daisuke.

"How do you know Daisuke?" Hikari asked, doing her best to keep her voice calm.

"We've known each other since first grade," Saki replied, draping an arm around Daisuke's neck. Hikari felt another sting of jealousy run through her.

"So are you two uh..." Rosa asked, sweeping her fingers at them.

"No, no, no," they said, separating from each other and shaking their heads.

"No, we're just friends," Daisuke said. Hikari felt herself relax a bit, although she was still mad over the way she talked to Takeru, as if she knew him all her life. What's more, Takeru was STARING at her! This was a matter that she would have to address later.

'Wait a minute, why am I getting apprehensive over Daisuke?' Hikari thought to herself.

"MAY I HAVE EVERYONE'S ATTENTION, PLEASE," someone said on a megaphone. Everyone turned towards the front of the port.

"GOOD MORNING, GRADUATING SENIORS OF ODAIBA HIGH SCHOOL," said the speaker, getting a bit of feedback from the megaphone. A few people snickered. "AS YOU ALL KNOW, THIS TRIP IS A GRADUATING PRESENT FOR MY SON, DAN HIBIKI. THE BOAT YOU SEE BEHIND ME IS MY YACHT THAT I HAD BUILT TWO YEARS AGO."

"That's a stinking yacht?" Saki asked, looking up at the huge boat. "Looks more like a cruise ship."

"THIS LOOKS LIKE A CRUISE SHIP, BUT A BIT SMALLER THAN A REGULAR ONE, AND IS CAPABLE OF FITTING YOU ALL ON IT. I WASN'T SURE HOW MANY STUDENTS WERE IN MY SON'S GRADUATING CLASS, SO I BUILT MORE ROOMS THAN EXPECTED, WHICH IS WHY I SAID YOU COULD BRING AS MANY FRIENDS AS YOU WANT. I HAVE TAKEN THE NECESSARY PRECAUTIONS TO ENSURE THAT YOU WILL HAVE A SAFE TRIP, SO YOU WON'T HAVE TO WORRY. THERE WILL BE NO DRINKING ON MY YACHT, SO I DON'T WANT TO HEAR ABOUT THE PUNCH BEING SPIKED AT THE GRADUATION PARTY LATER ON TONIGHT."

A few groans, followed by more snickering could be heard in a small section of the crowd. "Make sure you double check them," Mr. Hibiki told one of his security guards, pointing towards them. "AS YOU GO ON BOARD, MY SECURITY WILL BE CHECKING YOU FOR ANYTHING ILLEGAL. THIS DOES NOT INCLUDE POCKET KNIVES, THOUGH THEY WILL BE CONFISCATED IF USED IMPROPERLY. YOUR LUGGAGE WILL ALSO BE SCANNED FOR ANYTHING AS WELL. WE SET SAIL AT NOON, SO PLEASE COOPERATE, SO WE CAN GET THROUGH THIS AS QUICKLY AND AS PAINLESS AS POSSIBLE. THANK YOU."

"I think he's more anxious to go on the ship than we are," Iori said.

"It's his ship, of course he's going to be anxious," Daisuke said. "Mimi would probably die for something like this."

"Assuming that Koushiro hasn't already got it for her," Hikari said.

"As much money as he's got, I wouldn't be surprised," Ken said.

"Oh, Ken..." Miyako sang, grinning at him.

"Don't even think about it."

The security check went well, aside from the bickering of a few troublemakers. As everyone boarded the yacht, they couldn't help but gaze at how grand it was. Fully ten stories high, fifty feet wide and more than four hundred feet long, it fell just a few hundred feet short of a regular cruise ship, but it was the perfect size for everyone on board. It had three decks: The main one at the bottom, the second one above the third floor, and the top one on the sixth floor. There were a total of six hundred rooms, one hundred on each floor, which was enough to fit the three hundred or so graduates, plus their friends, which came out to a total of four hundred fifty. The sixth floor was mainly comprised of the ship's bridge, the control deck, and the captain's quarters. He even had a weather watcher station built on the same floor to track the weather. Each deck had benches and lawn chairs parked here and there so people could relax. Below decks was comprised of lots of activity rooms. There was a lounge room that contained a pool table and a big screen TV with lots of movies, an indoor pool and sauna which got heat from the engine room, juice bar, gym, arcade room, dining hall, and much more, all absolutely free. Mr. Hibiki took the liberty of bolting everything down to the floor to prevent them from sliding all over the place should anything happen. Any items that weren't stationary, like the weights and drinks, were put in special cases that prevented them from being tossed around when not in use. All in all, there wasn't any boredom to be had on the trip.

It was around noon when everything was set up. Everyone was ready to start sailing, but no one could have been happier than Mr. Hibiki. He chuckled to himself excitedly as he felt the engines rev up from down below.

"Purring like a kitten," he said, looking out the window of the ship's bridge. He tilted his Admiral's hat up and stuck his pipe in his mouth.

"I thought you didn't smoke?" one of his officers asked.

"I don't," he said. "I just wanted something to chew on. Besides, it makes me look dashing, does it not?"

"You look dashing enough," said his wife, walking up behind him and wrapping her arms around his waist. "You don't need anything that pertains to something that will give you cancer."

"After all these years, you still know how to make me blush," Mr. Hibiki said, feeling his face heat up slightly.

"Just doing my duty as a wife," Mrs. Hibiki said, looking up at him and smiling. He smiled back at her.

"Are we ready to go?" he asked his crew.

"Yes sir!" they all said in unison.

"Raise the boarding bridge!" he commanded a crewman.

"Aye, Cap'n!"

The sound of a rotor could be heard as the automatic boarding bridge rose up to a close.

"Status report!" he commanded another.

"Everything is in working order, Cap'n."

"What's the weather like?"

"Skies are all clear. Perfect sunny day."

"What about tonight?"

"No report yet."

"Hmm. We'll just have to tough it out and wait until then. Alright! Full speed ahead! Let's get this thing on the open sea!"

A loud, deep-bass horn was heard over the noise of the crowd as the "yacht" slowly took off from the port. The graduates waved goodbye to their parents who, in some cases, were somewhat glad to see them go, for reasons that weren't very innocent. As the ship got under way, things started settling down. Everyone picked their own room; some, two to a room, others by themselves, and after they settled down and unpacked their stuff, they went about the deck and below deck to check things out. Some went to the lounge area to play pool, or watch movies on the big screen TV, others were in the considerably large indoor pool, swimming and relaxing. There was a medium sized dance room that opted for a club, and a large group of people were there now, dancing to some rave music. Daisuke was in the gym, inside a small room with padded squares everywhere. He had his training gear on- a white karate uniform with a black belt tied around his waist- and was practicing Ba Gua. Takeru was on the basketball court with a few of his friends, showing off his skills. Ken and Miyako were enjoying a walk around the deck, observing the grad party setup for that night. Iori was in the arcade room, where a challenge to Soul Calibur III was being held, and Rosa and Hikari were at the juice bar, talking about...whatever.

"So how have things been with you and Iori?" Hikari asked.

"It's been fun, so far," Rosa said. "No complaints at least."

"How long have you two been together?"

"Since about...I believe tenth grade now. He's gotten so handsome from when I first saw him. Remember that bowl cut he always had in his head?"

"Yeah," Hikari chuckled. "It made his head look bigger than it was supposed to!" They laughed for a little bit.

"How are you and Takeru doing?"

"We're doing just fine, aside from how strange he's been acting these past few days."

"What do you mean?"

"He keeps acting like he wants to tell me something, but doesn't. When I ask him about it, he changes the subject. Sometimes he would leave all afternoon without telling me where he went. Doesn't that seem kinda strange to you?"

"...I suppose," Rosa said, wanting to change the subject before she accidentally told Hikari the truth. "What do you think about Saki?"

"Who, that girl that hit Daisuke?"

"Yeah."

Hikari stared at her juice glass with a dark look on her face. "I don't trust her," she said.

"Why not?" Rosa asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Did you hear the way she was talking to Takeru?"

"All she said was hi."

"Yeah, but she said it in a seductive way! Not only that, Takeru was looking at her like a hound dog."

"He was probably just wondering who she was."

"With that kind of look? Come on!"

"I don't see the big deal in it."

"Oh sure! You don't see YOU'RE boyfriend oogling some other girl, do you?"

"I wouldn't really have to worry about it. Iori told me his grandfather taught him a lot when he was young. Being a man was one thing."

"Hmph. All I'm saying is that Daisuke had better keep his 'friend' on a leash. Because the next time I catch her looking at Takeru, I'm gonna-"

"What?" said a voice behind them. Both girls turned around to see Saki standing behind them, grinning lightly.

"Oh, hi Saki," Rosa said, sweat dropping.

"Hiya," Saki said, waving at her. She turned back to Hikari. "What was it that you were planning to do to me if I were to stare at your boyfriend again?"

"You want to find out?" Hikari asked in a low tone.

"Not really," Saki said, still grinning. "I have other things to worry about."

"Like who's the next guy you're going to steal?"

"Okay, that was low."

"How long were you standing behind us?"

"Long enough."

"So...are you enjoying the trip so far?" Rosa cut in, trying to prevent things from escalating.

"I'd enjoy it more if I had a dildo and a magazine. Other than that, it's going okay."

Hikari and Rosa looked at her wide-eyed. "Why are you talking like that?!" Hikari asked her, standing up abruptly.

"Like what?"

"Do you really like pointing out that stuff?"

"What? Masturbation?"

"See? You're doing it again! That's stuff that you talk about in private, not when people are around!"

"I'm sorry, your virgin ears can't handle things like that, can they?"

Rosa started chuckling, but sobered up when Hikari glared at her.

"I am not a virgin!" Hikari yelled.

"Well, you sure do act like one."

"I DO NOT!!"

Everyone at the juice bar turned to stare at Hikari. Hikari turned red from embarrassment. "Sorry," she said as everyone returned to what they were doing.

"Someone should warn Takeru about your temper," Saki said, laughing lightly.

"You'd better stay away from him," Hikari said vehemently, pointing a finger in Saki's face.

"You know, normally when someone puts their finger in my face, they end up on the ground. But I like you, so I won't do it."

"I'd like to see you try," Hikari said darkly, getting in her face.

"Don't push your luck," Saki said, grinning. She stepped around Hikari and went up to the bar. "Besides, this is neither the time or place. Can I have a wild berry smoothie to go, please?" The bartender fixed her drink and handed it to her. "Thank you," she said, getting a straw. "See you girls later." She waved back at them as she left the bar. Hikari stood there for a moment, fuming. After a few seconds she turned back to the bar and sat down with a huff. Rosa stared at her for a minute.

"Uh, you okay?" she asked carefully.

"I'M FINE!" Hikari screamed. Everyone looked at her again. "STOP STARING AT ME!" She got up and stomped out of the bar.

"It's been a long day," Rosa said to everyone, following her out the door.

"Well, that passed the time," Daisuke said, walking out of the gym. It was around 3:00, and they still had about three or four hours before the party was to begin. Daisuke had just finished sparring with someone who thought he was Mr. Get Bad. Daisuke made him tap out five times in Judo before he gave up. "Now I'm all stinky. Oh well." He went up the stairs leading to the first deck, stopping when he got there to let the cool sea breeze play against his skin. He closed his eyes and breathed deeply.

'Never knew how nice sea air felt,' he thought, opening his eye again. 'I should try to enjoy this more.' He began walking towards his room, which was on the second deck. As he was heading towards the stairs, he happened to pass Saki's room.

'I haven't seen her all day,' he thought. 'Wonder what she's up to?' He walked up to her door to knock on it, but as he got close, he thought he heard someone moaning, and a faint, distinct, buzzing sound.

'Oh, you have got to be kidding me,' he thought. He leaned his ear on the door. Sure enough, he heard the moaning and the buzzing clearly. He turned away from the door, laughing silently.

'No way!' he thought. 'How did she manage to sneak that on board?' He looked back at the door, contemplating whether he should end her fun or not. 'Why not?' Daisuke stepped back from the door a bit.

'I won't put too much strength, just enough to scare her,' he thought, as he crouched into a small stance. All at once, he launched himself at the door and slammed his fist into it.

_**WHAM!**_

It got the desired result. There was a loud yelp, followed by a loud crash and some grumbling. Saki threw open the door to reveal Daisuke laughing his head off. "Daisuke?! What in the world are you doing?!"

"Did you make him say your name?" Daisuke asked, still laughing.

"I'm jacking you up," she said, throwing playful punches at him, which he blocked. "Why did you do that?"

"Think of it as payback for hitting me in the ribs this morning."

"That's not fair! You could have got me back another way."

"Ah, you'll be alright."

"Whatever. Where are you coming from?"

"The gym."

"Good grief, you stay in the gym."

Daisuke shrugged. "It's relaxing," he said.

"I don't know if I can count a gym full of sweaty, overconfident muscle heads relaxing, but, to each his own I guess."

"What does that mean?"

"Nothing. Mind if I ask you a question?"

"Shoot away."

"Is Hikari always that temperamental?"

"What did you tell her?" Daisuke asked in a deadpan tone.

"I didn't tell her anything. I just happened to walk in on her and that Spanish chick talking about me looking at Takeru. She threatened me, saying if I was to look at her boyfriend again, she would do something to me."

"What did you say?"

"Nothing. I said she was a virgin, and she got mad at me."

"You have to admit, that was pretty low."

"Hey, she was talking to me like I was some whore. If you ask me, that was pretty low itself. Personally, I don't know what you see in her."

"It's a lot of things about her that I love. I guess I understand her better than you do."

"Well, that's pretty obvious. Was Takeru really staring at me?"

"I don't know. I wasn't paying attention."

"Oh. Where are you headed off to right now?"

"Take a shower and get ready for tonight."

"Can I join you?"

"No!"

"Relax, I was just joking. I have to get ready myself, anyway."

"Okay. I'll see you later tonight."

"Uh-huh," Saki said, closing the door. Daisuke waited by the door, leaning his ear on it. After a minute, he heard the buzzing sound again.

'Hoo boy,' he thought as he left her door.

Around 7:00 everyone was at the back of the ship. The decorations for the party was finished, and the party was in full swing. The stage, which was sort of a makeshift due to lack of space, stood about five feet off the ground, measured twenty-five feet in length, and was made of metal with a green covering on top. The awning overhead had a banner attached to it that said: CONGRADULATIONS CLASS OF '10. The band that was currently on stage was playing a song called Scotty Doesn't Know, which happened to become a popular song all over the world. In the back, behind everyone, was a long table that had snacks and drinks set on it. Lights were strewn everywhere, lighting up the whole deck. Daisuke was at the snack table, leaning up against it with a shot glass of punch in his hand. He bobbed his head to the music and watched as people danced around like maniacs.

"Why aren't you out there?" Saki asked, walking up next to him.

"There's no point of me being out there and making a fool of myself," he said. "I think I've done that enough already."

"So you're donning on the Mr. Calm, Cool, Collected persona now?"

"Not really. I just don't feel like dancing."

"Well, you do whatever you want. I'm gonna go have fun." With that, she jumped into the dancing crowd with a whoop of joy. Daisuke watched as she melted easily into the throng of party goers.

'Weirdo,' he thought, grinning. He looked down at his glass. 'Why in the world did he give us shot glasses anyway?'

"Takeru, I'm serious. You've been acting strange for these past few days, and I want to know why!" Hikari said to Takeru as they walked towards the party.

"Don't worry, Hikari. I'll tell you tonight."

"I want to know now!"

"Now's not a good time. Wait until we get to the party."

"Takeru, this had better not be about Saki, because if it is-"

"Whoa, wait a minute! Why would I have anything to do with her?"

"You were eyeballing her earlier," Hikari said, crossing her arms.

"She just surprised me, that's all. I didn't expect her to come out and hit Daisuke like that."

Hikari grunted in frustration and crossed her arms tighter to her chest. Takeru stared at his girlfriend.

'What's gotten her so uptight?' he thought. 'What I'm going to tell her tonight will cheer her up.' They got to the party just as the song ended.

'Perfect,' Takeru thought. He grabbed Hikari's hand, surprising her out of her frustration, and dragged her towards the stage.

"Takeru, where are we going?" Hikari asked.

"You'll see," he said, pulling her onto the stage.

"I'm sorry, but can I borrow the microphone right quick? I just want to say something," Takeru asked the band leader.

"Uh, sure," he said, moving out of the way.

"GOOD EVENING, LADIES AND GENTS, UM...MY NAME IS TAKERU TAKAISHI. MOST OF YOU KNOW ME, A LOT OF YOU DON'T."

A chorus of snickers came up from the crowd. Daisuke looked up sharply from his glass.

'You have got to be kidding me,' he thought.

"I'M SURE YOU KNOW MY GIRLFRIEND HIKARI YAGAMI, WE'VE BEEN TOGETHER SINCE HIGH SCHOOL GRADUATION. SAY HI TO EVERYONE."

Hikari, who was blushing like mad the whole time, produced only a small wave and a squeak. She looked past everyone and noticed Daisuke standing next to the snack table, staring at them expressionless.

'Why's he looking like that?' she thought to herself.

"I BROUGHT HER UP HERE ON STAGE BECAUSE THERE'S SOMETHING I WANT TO TELL HER." He turned to Hikari and took both her hands in his. Hikari met his gaze with her own startled one.

"HIKARI, WE'VE KNOWN EACH OTHER SINCE WE WERE LITTLE. WE'VE GROWN UP TOGETHER, AND NOW WE'VE BEEN DATING FOR A WHILE NOW, AND I'VE LOVED YOU EVER SINCE."

Bull! someone coughed out in the audience. Takeru ignored him.

"WHICH BRINGS ME TO SAY THIS." He slowly got down on one knee, digging his hand in his pocket at the same time.

'No,' Daisuke thought, his hand tightening around the glass and his expression deepening slightly.

There was a loud cheering from the crowd as Takeru opened the black box he pulled from his pocket to reveal the ring and, although they couldn't hear him since his mouth left the microphone, he asked Hikari the question. And though Hikari couldn't hear him over the noise, she knew what he asked her. Her breathing pace quickened, and her eyes welled up with tears.

"YES!" she shouted, pouncing on him and planting kisses all over his face "Yes! Yes! Oh God, yes!" she said between kisses. The crowd went wild, and through it all, no one noticed Daisuke behind them as he crushed the shot glass in his hand and walked away briskly.

'Well, that's the end of that,' Saki thought, stuffing her hands in her pockets and making her way out of the cheering crowd. 'I hope Daisuke didn't take it too-' She made her way to the table and noticed Daisuke wasn't there. Small bits of glass littered the spot where he stood. 'Never mind,' she thought. She looked to her right and noticed Daisuke walking towards the front of the boat, and silently followed him.

"Honey, how old were we when we got married?" Mr. Hibiki asked his wife while he gazed down at the crowd from the sixth floor.

"We were around the same age, I believe," Mrs. Hibiki answered, hanging onto his arm.

"Ah, marriage. What a wonderful thing," said one of the weather reporters, coming up behind them.

"Aren't you supposed to be monitoring the weather?" Mr. Hibiki asked, turning towards him.

"Dear, be easy on him," Mrs. Hibiki said, patting him lightly on his arm. "Wonder what's wrong with him?" She pointed to a spiky brunette haired boy leaving the snack table.

"Hmm. He looks mad about something. I'll go talk to him." He gave his wife a kiss on the cheek and headed downstairs towards the first deck.

Daisuke walked towards the front of the ship where there were a few people scattered around, obviously some of the lesser party-goers that didn't like getting caught up in crowds. He rested his elbows on the railing overlooking the water, and rested his nose on his arms, sighing.

'What do I care?' he thought. 'It's not my problem, so it shouldn't matter to me.' He put his forehead on his arms and closed his eyes, trying to keep from crying. 'It really shouldn't.'

"Daisuke?"

Daisuke looked behind him to see Saki walking up. He turned back to the water and rested his chin on his arms again.

"Daisuke, are you okay?" she asked.

"I don't know. Maybe," he said.

Saki leaned on the rail next to him, resting on her elbows and crossing her forearms. "I'm sorry, man," she said.

"For?" Daisuke asked, not looking at her.

"I mean, you had to see that happen, so, you know..."

"That's not something for you to be sorry about. It's not your fault that they're getting married."

"You still love her, don't you?"

Daisuke turned his head away from her. Saki grinned a little. "You're doing it again," she said.

"Am I that obvious?" Daisuke asked, turning towards her.

"Extremely."

Daisuke sighed, dropping his head slightly. "Yeah, I do. Of course I do. I've always had, and I always will." He looked up a Saki. "She means the world to me, Saki. Everything about her is so...unique. I spend almost every waking moment thinking about her. But now, I don't know what to do anymore." He went back to looking at the water.

"I don't know if this'll make you feel any better, but I feel the same way about Takeru. I don't know everything about him, but I know enough to where I just want to be with him, you know? I've never really felt this way about a man before, but Takeru is special. He doesn't notice because he's never paid any attention to me before, and that was partly due to the fact because I was shy back then, but he makes me feel confident about myself. I was really wishing that was me on that stage, and not Hikari."

"Hold fast to dreams," someone said behind them. They turned around to see Mr. Hibiki walking up behind them.

"Mr. Hibiki," they said together.

"Please, call me Go," Mr. Hibiki said.

"That you're first name?" Saki asked. Go nodded.

"What was that you just said?" Daisuke asked.

"Hold fast to dreams. It comes from a poem I read some time ago. I forget the words, but that sentence has a lot of meaning to it, especially in this particular setting. So, you both lost a love that you were pining for, right?"

Both nodded their heads miserably.

"I take it that it had something to do with the couple back there?"

They nodded their heads again.

"Bah, I wouldn't worry too much about it. Someone will come along and cheer you both up. Either that, or the both of you can get together."

"That's a no-go," Daisuke said, shaking his head.

"Why not?"

"You'll have to understand the history between us," Saki said. "We're both one personality that shares two bodies."

"That's a little weird."

"Tell me about it. His mom keeps wanting to adopt me."

Go chuckled. "How long have you known each other?"

"Since grade school. He's the one who turned me into a tomboy."

"How did you do that, young man?"

Daisuke didn't say anything. He was staring at the sky.

"Daisuke?" Saki asked, shaking him a little. "What's wrong?"

"Where are the stars?" he asked. Saki and Go looked up and noticed a large dark mass blotting out the stars, which kept growing bigger.

"That can't be good," Go said.

"Where did it come from?" Daisuke asked.

"Think that could contribute to it?" Saki asked, looking ahead. Daisuke and Go looked in that direction and gasped. Ahead of them, swirling and twisting with flashes of light darting through it, was a seething mass of dark cloud. The waters below it was already stirring up something terrible, and every now and again a lightning bolt would strike it.

_DEET! DEET! DEET! DEET! DEET!_

The monitor on the computer inside the weather room had been beeping like crazy. A weather watchman heard it and went to investigate. He picked up the readout that was flowing out of the printing machine, and after reading one line, came running out of the room past two other officers that were lingering about.

"It's coming!" he told them as he passed. They peered inside the room at the computer to see what he was talking about. The watchman tore down the stairs, looking for Go.

"Captain!" he screamed as he got to the bottom of the stairs. "Captain! It's coming! It's headed right for us!"

Go looked up. "It's already here," he said. "Get everybody below decks now!"

The people that were around them made a mad rush for the stairs leading below. Go grabbed his radio from his belt and ordered the security to help with getting everyone safely below before the storm hit them full force. As he was doing this, rain started falling on the ship. The people at the party were oblivious to the whole affair, and when it started raining, they started partying even more. Go ran towards the stage, picking his way through the crowd, and hopped on stage, stopping the music. People started groaning in protest.

"EVERYONE, LISTEN UP. I WANT YOU ALL, IN AN ORDERLY FASHION, TO MAKE YOUR WAY DOWN BELOW DECKS. A HURRICANE IS APPROACHING-"

He never got to finish his sentence. The storm was upon them all too quickly, and a lightning bolt struck the antenna at the very top of the boat, knocking out the power. Panic broke out among them as they madly made their way towards the stairs, tripping over each other in an attempt to reach them. The wind picked up around them, causing the waves to slam into the boat and rock it wildly and causing people to fall down.

"TAKERU!" Hikari screamed, struggling to get up.

"HIKARI! WHERE ARE YOU?!" Takeru moved against the crowd and found her, grabbing her by the wrist. As he did this, a particularly nasty wave hit the boat, causing everyone to fall again and spraying them with water. Takeru groped around for Hikari's hand again, and thinking he found it, began making his way towards the stairs.

"Don't worry, we're almost there," he said.

"What are you doing?! Let me go!"

"Huh?" He turned around to face a girl with long dark hair. He immediately let her go and began looking around for Hikari.

Hikari, meanwhile, was stumbling through everyone trying to get away. Someone from behind her slammed into her, knocking her to the ground again. As she tried to get up, more people trampled over her.

"Look out!" someone screamed. Hikari looked up just in time to see a large wall of water hovering over the ship. Suddenly, everything was in slow motion. It was too late to run. Too late to dodge. Hikari stared at the oncoming wave, and although her mind was telling her to move, fright kept her pinned on the spot. Takeru could only watch as the wave came crashing down on top of his fiancée, a few other people, and someone who jumped from the crowd towards Hikari.

"HIKARIIIIIII!!!!!!" Takeru screamed, pressing against the crowd, trying to get to where he last saw her. Someone grabbed him by the wrist and began pulling him down the stairs.

"Let me go!" Takeru screamed, struggling against the person's surprisingly strong grip.

"Takeru, don't! You'll get washed away too!" said the redhead girl as she pulled him below deck. She wrapped her arms around Takeru's torso, pinning his arms by his sides as she pulled him along. She looked around the crowd of crying people. 'I don't see Daisuke anywhere,' she thought.

"How far are we from the nearest port?!" Go shouted to his officers in the ship's bridge. He held on to the steering wheel as the ship gave another violent shove.

"We're about twenty miles northwest of Shanghai!"

"Then that's where we're going!" Go gave the wheel a mighty spin to the right, pointing them towards Shanghai.

"Turn up the engines, full power!"

"Aye, Cap'n!"

The engines revved up, and the boat shot off through the water. It took about five minutes to get out of the storm. They did eventually, and when everything was calm, people started coming back up from below to look around. Takeru pushed past everyone else, trying to get up top first, followed by Saki. They emerged out onto the deck, and Takeru immediately ran over to where there were a few distraught people who were hit by the wave.

"Hikari?" he began calling her name, checking people to see if either one was her. "Have you seen Hikari?" he asked a guy, grabbing him by the shirt.

"Huh?" said the guy, still disoriented. Takeru let him go and began searching again, calling her name. Saki and a few security guards joined that side of the deck a few seconds later. Saki stopped and looked around, while the security guards went to tend to the people strewn about to deck.

'Where's Daisuke?' she thought. 'I didn't see him when the storm hit, and I didn't see him down below, either.' She looked towards the water. 'No,' she thought, her eyes widening.

Takeru looked in her direction. "Hey, have you seen Hikari?" he asked, running up to her. Saki slowly shook her head, still staring out at the water. Takeru looked out at the water, and the worst possible fear came to his mind. "No," he said, sinking to his knees. His eyes started welling up with tears. "No. Can't be. Hikari..."

--------------------

Two-Tone Daily, sorry to disappoint you bud, but I'm not going to change my story for a couple of reasons. One reason is because I'm a Daikari fan. The other reason is because I like to spice up what I write. Understand this: Writing a story is like having sex. If you go through your sex life with just the routine way the whole time, it'll be pretty boring, so you'll have to add things in it to make it interesting. I don't mean going to extremes or anything like that. Just something to make it fun. And if you write a story that has no juice in it, it'll be quite dry. Sorry, but this is how I'm going to stay. To everyone else, thank you for the reviews. Daikari forever.


	4. Stranded!

Sorry I took so long. I had to take care of a few things. So if you find this chapter boring, I'm sorry.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Chapter 4: Stranded!**

Darkness was all she knew. She couldn't tell if she was sleeping or awake, and she dreaded the thought of being dead. The last thing she was able to recall was the ship being caught in some terrible storm. She was desparately trying to get off the ground after being trampled by the crowd as they rushed for the stairs. She remembered someone shouting, then she looked up to see a massive wall of water falling towards her. When the wave hit her, it felt like a person slamming into her. Maybe it was a person? Either way, she found herself plunged into the sea, surrounded by water on all sides. Desperately, she swam towards the top, only to be pushed back down by another wave when her head broke the surface. Again and again she tried, but the waves kept pushing her back down. Her attempts were getting weaker, her movements slower from lack of oxygen. The water around her started darkening, and for a moment, she thought the Dark Ocean was after her again. As she started losing consciousness and started sinking, she made out the shadow of a body moving slowly towards her. She felt strong arms wrap around her waist and back, and then everything went black.

She had no idea how long she stayed like that, but suddenly images started running through her head. Images? Or were they memories? Memories of an early childhood perhaps? She didn't know when this was, but from what she can tell, a girl(or her, since she was looking from the girl's point of view) was walking home from school one day, when five boys came out of nowhere and began jostling and teasing her. Though she couldn't make out what they were saying, they obviously made her cry. Suddenly one boy pushed her from behind, making her fall onto the ground and scatter her books everywhere. She got on her knees and started gathering her books, but one guy standing in front of her grabbed her by her hair and forced her head up so that she was looking at him. He grinned wickedly at her, then pointed to his groin area while saying something that was obviously derogatory, even though she couldn't make it out. Suddenly there was a shout from behind them. The group of boys turned around to see who it was, all except for the girl, because her hair was still being held. More words were exchanged from the group and the single person, who happened to be a boy. The one holding her hair suddenly let her go, and he and the rest of the boys charged after the single guy. She turned around just in time to see the group attack the boy, all of them throwing punches and kicks at him. A head from the group snapped back here and there, indicating the boy was fighting back, but they still overwhelmed him. A loud shrill of a whistle being blown was heard, and the boys scattered, leaving the single one on the ground bloodied and bruised. A school security guard ran over to them and helped the boy up. The girl noticed he had short spiky hair that was brunette colored. She could barely make out his face since it was bruised in a few spots, and he was missing a tooth. The guard asked him how he was doing, and he said he was alright, grinning the whole time. The boy turned to her, still grinning, and asked her the same question. Even with the bruises on his face she found him to be quite handsome. She nodded her answer, and he grinned a bit more, showing off the space where his tooth was. His grin made her smile warmly, and although she was watching these images, she felt the corners of her mouth twist up into a smile. Suddenly, the images died out, and she was left in the dark again. She searched for the images again, but couldn't find them. She started wondering if her life was flashing before her eyes, but it felt more or less like a dream.

'If I'm dead, then why am I dreaming?' she thought. This and other questions plagued her mind. 'Where am I? What's going on? _Who_ am I?'

"...Hikari..."

'Hikari? Is that my name? Where did that voice come from?' She listened into the dark again.

"Hikari...wake up..."

'Wake up? I can't even move! I don't even know where I am!' She suddenly felt pressure on her stomach, and a liquid substance in her throat, traveling up to her mouth, but then traveling back down, and back up again as the pressure on her stomach would move in quick, short intervals. She felt her mouth being forced open, and someone, or something, locked their lips with hers and forced air down her throat. The liquid was pushed down further. The lips left hers, and for some reason, she wanted them back. She felt the pressure on her stomach again. This time, the liquid came gushing out of her mouth.

Hikari shot up, coughing and spitting out sea water. She opened her eyes, looking around and panting. All around her was a darkish gray, sandy beach. To her far right was a large dark cove, big enough for a ship of some kind. Through the dark, she was able to make out large rock formations sticking out of the water, and every now and again, a small wave would crash into them, sending a spray of sea water shooting up. She looked up behind her towards a towering wall of sand that had large rocks jutting from it here and there, leading up to a cliff where she could make out blades of grass fluttering in the breeze.

'What in the world...?' she thought.

"You okay?" said a voice in front of her. Hikari snapped her head to the front with a yelp, surprising the speaker of the voice.

"Huh?" she asked, still in shock.

"Are you okay?" the person said again. Hikari nodded slowly, taking in the person's disheveled appearance. The person was a male, with short, spiky, brunette-colored hair that was partially matted down on his wet forehead, and a pair of goggles hung around his neck. His wet clothes clung to his body, where Hikari could see his well developed muscles. He was looking at her with concern in his brown eyes.

'He looks like that boy I dreamed about,' she thought. Suddenly, all her memories came rushing back to her, and she found herself face to face with Motomiya Daisuke.

"AAH! Daisuke, what are you doing?!" she screamed, backing away from him.

"You're welcome, by the way," Daisuke said nonchalantly, standing up.

"What are you talking about?"

"You were drowning. I did what came naturally and saved your life."

"I don't recall asking for your help!" she said sternly, getting up.

"Would you rather drown?" Daisuke asked sarcastically. "I can help you if you want."

"You stay away from me!" Hikari started backing up. Daisuke stayed where he was, smirking at her with a derisive snort. He turned from her and started searching the cliffs.

'I'm sure there's more to do up there,' he thought, looking up. 'The question is, how are we going to get up there?'

"What time is it?" Hikari asked, looking at the darkness around them. Daisuke looked over at her.

"Are you talking to me?" he asked.

"No, your shadow. Of course you!"

Daisuke held up his wrists. "You see anything on my arms relating to the time?" he asked. He turned back to studying the cliffs. "It's an hour before dawn."

"How can you tell?"

"The moon's long since passed, and the tide's coming in."

Hikari looked up towards the sky. Sure enough, the moon was gone, having been replaced by groups of stars that were slowly winking out one by one. She looked towards the sea, and noticed that the water's edge was slowly creeping up the shore towards them with each passing.

"Daisuke, what are we gonna-" She turned towards him, but he was gone. She looked up the cliff and saw him scaling it by using the rocks. He was already half way up, almost to the top.

"Daisuke! What are you doing?!" Hikari called to him. Daisuke looked down at her.

"You can stay down there if you want," he said. "I'd rather be on higher ground." He continued climbing. Hikari searched the area where he was climbing and, finding his starting point, hauled her way up to the cliff. She was out of breath by the time she reached the top, where Daisuke stood surveying the area. He turned to help her up, but she slapped his hand away.

"I'm...fine..." she panted, standing up shakily.

"Suit yourself," Daisuke said, stuffing his hands in his pockets and turning away from her. He began walking off.

"H-hey!" Hikari shouted. "Where are you going?! Don't leave me!" She stumbled after him.

Meanwhile, everyone back on the boat was recovering from the storm. They docked in Shanghai two hours before dawn, but everyone was instructed to remain on the yacht until further notice. Shanghai happened to be hit by the hurricane a few hours ago, but not very hard. Trees were scattered here and there, and the shingles from houses were blown off, but nothing was torn down or no one was dead. There were maintenance crews scattered at various places cleaning up the mess, or maintaining downed power lines where there was no power. The boat itself had its antenna fixed, but it was going to be a while before power was fully restored. The only lights that worked were a few of the rooms below decks, and about two thirds of the guest rooms. Not that anyone cared. They were too strung up by the storm to go to sleep or do anything else. Those that were hit by the wave were taken to a Japanese hospital that was stationed in Shanghai for a checkup. Everyone else went to their rooms to at least _try _to get some sleep, or wait until they get word from Go on what they were to do next. Saki asked him if he or anyone knew the whereabouts of Daisuke and Hikari. Go reassured her they were checking into that now.

"Think we should contact their parents and let them know what's going on?" an officer asked.

"No, no parents," Go said. "This is our responsibility. I don't want them to worry about anything. Besides, they won't ever trust me again if they find out."

"How are we supposed to find the two kids if they're not on the ship?" a security guard asked.

"For one, they're not kids, they're grown adults. Two, we don't know if they are missing or not."

"So what do you propose we do?"

Go thought for a second. "There is a clipboard in the ship's bridge next to the steering wheel that has a list of who's in which room. Get it, and find out what rooms they stay in, and if they have roommates or not. Omit the ones that were taken to the hospital. You," he pointed to the officer. "make sure everyone is in their rooms to make this easier. Go to it, now."

"Aye, Cap'n!" The two men saluted Go and rushed off. Go turned to another crew member.

"Go to the Japanese Embassy and ask to use the phone," he told him. "Call the Coast Guard or the Sea Patrol, whichever one, and have them search the waters for two missing adults, a male with spiky brunette hair and a pair of goggles, and a female with chestnut brown hair going past her shoulders. Get to it."

"Aye, Cap'n!" The crew member saluted and rushed towards the embassy.

"Won't that alert the parents on the news?" Mrs. Hibiki asked.

"The Coast Guard is very discrete about these matters. Besides, newscasters don't really consider their line of work exciting."

Mrs. Hibiki sighed. "And this trip was going so well, too," she said.

"Could be worse," Go said. "At least there wasn't an iceberg to sink us."

"I just hope they're not-"

"They aren't," Go said, cutting her off.

"How do you know?"

Go smiled at his wife. "The boy's strong. From what I can tell, he won't let anything happen to the girl as long as he's still breathing. They're still alive."

"You can tell by just looking at him?"

"No, I can tell because he loves her, even if he doesn't show it."

"Ah," Mrs. Hibiki said as understanding dawned on her.

An hour and a half later, the sun gave off the first of its rays, lighting up the water and bringing in a new day. Miyako stood at the side of the boat, looking out over the water facing the rising sun. She found out it was confirmed that two passengers were missing, and she had an accurate idea of who it might be. Ken was in their room still, mourning over his best friend.

'Daisuke, Hikari, I know you're out there somewhere,' she thought. 'Be strong, and survive long enough for us to find you.'

"Miyako?"

Miyako turned around to see a redhead girl coming up to her.

"Hey, uh...Suki?"

"Saki."

"Sorry."

"It's okay. You're not the first one to get my name wrong."

"Why did your parents name you after rice wine?"

"I was very pale when I was born, and due to that, I reminded them of the drink. It kind of fits, though."

"Why, because you drink it?"

"No, I tend to light people up when they cross me the wrong way."

Miyako laughed at that comment. "How many times have you lit Daisuke up?"

"Plenty of times," Saki said, laughing. She stared out at the water. "They're out there, somewhere," she said after a few seconds.

"How can you tell?" Miyako asked.

"I know Daisuke all too well. He doesn't give up without a fight, and he's always willing to protect someone he loves, no matter what the cost."

"That's nothing new. You should have seen him in the digital world. He was always being overprotective of Hikari, even when she didn't need help."

"That's his big brother mode. He's done that to me several times over the years."

"Have you two ever hooked up?"

"The thought crossed our minds, but we decided that it would be better if we were to just remain friends."

"Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you want to remain friends, if you knew a lot about each other?"

"Like I told Go, you'll have to understand the history between us. We're so much alike, it's scary."

"Who's Go?"

"That's Mr. Hibiki's first name. He said we could call him that. How's Takeru taking this?"

"He's been in his room all morning. He might be asleep right now."

"I hope he doesn't take Hikari's disappearance too hard."

"I don't think he know's about it"

Saki looked at Miyako. "Come again?"

"He doesn't know she's missing. He figured she might be with the group of people that were taken to the hospital."

Saki whistled. "Won't he be in for a rude awakening. Wait, don't they share the same room?"

Miyako shook her head. "Hikari roomed up with a buddy of hers. I guess she figured that since she and Takeru share a dorm together already, why should they share a room together?"

"What about Takeru? Does he have a roommate?"

Miyako shook her head again.

"Wow," Saki said. "That must be depressing."

"Hey, he wanted it."

"Yeah, but still."

"Doesn't Daisuke have a room to himself?"

"Yeah, but his case is understandable. Takeru's is a bit different."

"How so?"

"Well, considering that Takeru and Hikari are together, one would figure they would be in the same room together. Staying by yourself can become very depressing."

"You sound concerned."

"Hey, I have a heart. I just don't want to see him get hurt, that's all. Mentally or physically."

Miyako studied the red haired girl for a second. "You like him, don't you?"

"Ever since I first saw him back in middle school. He's been a heart throb to me."

"Why didn't you get with him?"

"Too shy, too scared, whatever. Besides, I wasn't much of a looker back then, so I figured he wouldn't want anything to do with me."

"What was the deal, you were too skinny?"

"That, and I wore coke bottle glasses. I got laser eye surgery during my ninth grade year when I moved to Tokyo."

"Have you ever had a boyfriend?"

"Nope. I'm too feisty and stubborn."

"...Okay, have you ever had sex?"

"Twice."

"With who?"

"Aren't you curious!"

"I'm just trying to start up a light conversation, that's all."

"And talking about who I have sex with is a good topic?"

"It's a start."

"That's something you don't need to know about. Anyway, I'm going to go take a walk around and breath in some of this fresh air. See ya." She turned from Miyako and walked off.

'What a weird girl,' Miyako thought.

Takeru was laying down in his room with the lights off, wondering where Hikari might be, and getting more and more frustrated.

'Where is she?' he thought. 'I didn't see her anywhere on the boat, and I don't know if she's with those that were taken to the hospital. Oh, God I hope that she didn't get washed away by that wave.' He reflected bitterly on the memory of seeing his fiancee getting hit by a massive wave, and him not being able to do anything about it. But who was it that jumped through the crowd towards her? Could it have been Daisuke? It certainly looked like him, but Takeru couldn't be sure. A knock on his door brought him out of his musings.

"Come in," he said, sitting up. The door opened, and Saki stuck her head in.

"Hey there," she said. "Are you still alive?" She looked around the room. "What's with all the gloom and doom?"

"What do you want?" Takeru asked, laying down again.

"Just to talk," Saki said, coming into the room and flicking on the light. "How are you doing?"

"What do you think?" Takeru said sourly. "Hikari's missing, and I don't know where she is."

"So is Daisuke, but you don't see me killing myself over it."

"Aren't you two a couple?"

"No, we're just friends."

"..." Takeru just looked at her.

"Don't worry. Everyone thinks the same thing." She grabbed the fold out chair leaning next to the wall and set it up in front of Takeru's bed. "So, wanna talk?"

"Look, uh...Saki, was it?" Takeru asked, sitting up again.

Saki nodded.

"Now's not a really good time, okay? My fiancee's missing, and I don't know what to do."

"You just said that."

"Apparently, you're not getting the hint!" Takeru said, getting annoyed.

"I get it," Saki said, unfazed by his outburst. "You want me to leave so you can sulk away your loss."

"Well, how else am I supposed to take this?!" Takeru said, raising his voice and throwing up his hands. "What, am I supposed to be calm that Hikari's disappearance? Wouldn't you feel this way if someone you care about disappeared?!"

"If I had a boyfriend, I might. But it wouldn't last very long, since I know he'd turn up soon."

"So you're telling me that you're not sad that Daisuke's missing?"

"Well, of course I'm sad, but I also know Daisuke real well. He's still alive, and so is Hikari."

Takeru stared blankly at her. "What do you mean by that?"

"Oh, that's right. You don't know," Saki said. "Hikari and Daisuke weren't anywhere on the ship, nor with the ones that were taken to the hospital. So the only possible place for them to be is at sea."

"Oh no..." Takeru buried his head in his hands. "I was hoping you weren't serious about her being tossed out into the sea by that wave."

"What would you expect from a wave that big? I'm actually surprised that no one else was swept away by it. And don't forget Daisuke's out there as well, though I don't know how he was caught up in the wave."

"Look, I can care less about Daisuke," Takeru said, looking up sharply. "For all I know, _he _was probably the one that conjured up that storm!"

Saki had enough of his surly attitude. It was enough that he was beating himself up about the situation, but now he was being ridiculous. "Hey, Bush," she snapped at him. "That's my friend you're talking about, and this isn't hurricane Katrina, so stop being stupid!"

Takeru turned his head away from her.

'Good grief,' Saki thought, sighing. "Look, Takeru. They're okay. Daisuke's actually a strong, resourceful person, not the ditz that you guys thought him to be. He'll protect Hikari from any harm. You have my word."

"Yeah, well if they are somewhere, he'd better not try anything with her."

"Daisuke, you'd better not try anything with me-OW!" Hikari yelped as Daisuke applied pressure to her right ankle as he checked it after she tripped and fell over a large tree root sticking out of the ground. Daisuke stopped what he was doing and looked up at her.

"Woman, I don't even want to touch you. It's bad enough that I have to be on this island with you," he said, looking around the area of trees. "Now hold still." Hikari hissed in pain as he lifted her foot at an angle to inspect it closely.

"Looks like it's starting to swell," he said. "I think you twisted it, nothing too bad. Your shoe's going to have to come off, and I can use your sock as a brace." Carefully, he undid the shoelace and slowly pulled her shoe off. Hikari winced and groaned slightly in pain. The whole time he was doing this, Hikari couldn't help but notice how lithe and smooth his hands were, deftly moving on her ankle so as to not hurt her. He carefully removed her sock, and winced at the sight of her ankle, which was the size of a golf ball and turning purple. Switching hands, he placed the sock under her foot so that both ends were easy to grab. Holding it there with one hand, he laid one end over her foot, then took the other end and grabbed the first one so that both ends were in his hand. Using that as a lever, he held her foot up as he moved to set his leg under hers for support, then tied both ends together in a snug knot, making sure that the sides were covering her ankle.

"There. How does that feel?" he asked, gently laying her leg down.

"Better than it did," she said, still amazed at how he managed to come up with that idea. "Where'd you learn how to do that?"

"Survival training in ninth grade," he said. "I also took a few health courses over last summer."

Hikari stared at him, slightly surprised.

"What, you thought the only thing on my mind was soccer?" he asked with a grin as he helped her up, grabbing her shoe and placing it in his pocket in the process. "Try not to put too much pressure on that foot. We need to find somewhere for you to rest until we can get you a better splint."

"I wonder if there are any caves around here," Hikari asked as she hopped over to his left side so he can support her.

"Maybe. If so, I hope they're big enough," Daisuke said. Hikari placed her arm around Daisuke's neck which, unaware to him, caused her shirt to rise up above the hem of her jeans so that a little skin showed. Daisuke wrapped his arm aroud her waist for support, but suddenly felt her stomach under his fingers.

"Oops," he said, drawing his fingers back quickly and looking down. He searched for any space that was above her skin, but also below her chest. Unfortunately, he couldn't find any. "Um..."

"It's alright, Daisuke," Hikari said with a sigh. "I know you're just trying to help me."

"Sorry about this," Daisuke said, placing his hand back onto her exposed skin. He marveled at how soft her skin was next to his hand, and how nice it felt for her to be standing next to him.

'Get a grip, nutcase,' he thought to himself as they started walking as best as they could manage. 'You know you won't be able to get with her anytime soon.'

"Daisuke, I have a question," Hikari said, breaking him out of his train of thought.

"Shoot."

"This morning when you said the tide was coming in, how was that possible?"

"It was from the setting of the moon. Just like the sun, the moon rises in the east and settles in the west. As for the tide, you know that gravity from the moon affects it, right? When the moon rises, the waters recede from the beach because the moon's gravity is pulling the water back, or to put it into better terms, the gravity was lifted off the water. The reason for that is because the moon is getting farther away from the earth as it rises. When the moon sets, it gets closer to the earth, so as a result, gravity is pressed onto the waters, causing it to expand. You can call it the Push-Pull Effect of Gravity."

"Doesn't the moon's phases have anything to do with it?"

"Yes. When the moon goes through its phases, it affects the pushing and pulling of gravity on the water. For example, when there's a new moon, basically no moon in the sky, the water's neutral. And when there's a full moon like last night, the tide is in full effect. Depending on what phase the moon is in depends on how far the water expands and contracts."

It amazed Hikari to hear Daisuke talk like this. All this time she thought he was a complete ditz that just happened to get lucky and score a college scholarship from just playing soccer.

"Daisuke, how smart are you?" she asked.

"Smart enough," he said. Hikari frowned at him.

"Let me rephrase the question," she said. "What's your I.Q.?"

"Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious, that's all."

"You wouldn't believe me even if I showed you proof."

"Come on, Daisuke. It's not that bad, is it?"

"No."

"Then why won't you tell me?"

"Because I don't want to."

"It's because you're embarrassed about it, aren't you?"

"No."

"Yes you are."

"Whatever."

"Come on! Tell me!"

"No."

Hikari was getting nowhere. Her curiosity was getting the better of her, but he wouldn't spill the beans. Unless...

"Tell you what. I'll tell you my score, and you tell me yours. Deal?"

Daisuke stopped and looked at her squarely. "Want to know what I find funny?" he asked.

"Uh..." Hikari looked at him blankly.

"I find it funny that you tease me all morning about not wanting me around you and touching you-which, belive me, would be the last thing I'd want to do right now-yet you presume to strike up conversation with me by asking me what my I.Q. is. That's a little compromising, don't you think?" They started walking again.

"Look, I'm just trying to get a little friendly conversation going until someone finds us."

"I don't want a friendly conversation. I just want to hurry up and get off this island before next semester starts. Matter of fact..." he suddenly stopped, and in one motion moved behind Hikari and lifted her off her feet and cradled her in his arms. Hikari yelped at his sudden quickness and automatically wrapped her arms around his neck.

"What are you doing?!" she said.

"It was getting quite annoying helping you hobble," he said as he presumed walking.

"Don't you think that I'm a little heavy for you?" Hikari asked.

"You weigh next to nothing to me," he said. "My I.Q.'s 197 by the way."

"What?!"

"Mm-hmm," Daisuke said.

"Daisuke, be serious."

"I am," he said, looking at her. Hikari was stunned. But then again, how else could she explain his knowledge of the moon's phases?

"Wow. I never knew you were so smart," she said.

"That's because you never took the time to get to know me," he said.

"Well, you kept acting like an idiot every time, so that's just what we assumed about you."

"I was young. What did you expect?"

They walked for a few more meters, emerging out of the group of trees onto a clearing where a small cave, partially covered by hanging reeds from the large hill it was carved in, sat off to the side about ten yards from the edge of the trees on top of a smaller hill.

"And speaking of caves," Daisuke said, making his way over to it. "This looks to be big enough for the both of us."

"I just hope we're not sharing it with anything else," Hikari said. Once inside the cave, Daisuke laid Hikari gently on the ground and surveyed the area. The reeds outside only concealed what the cave looked like on the inside.

"This place is huge," Daisuke said, looking up at the rocky ceiling.

"I hope there aren't any bats in here," Hikari said, shivering slightly.

"Afraid of the winged rats?" Daisuke asked, smiling at her. Hikari stuck her tongue at him. Daisuke chuckled and looked towards the back of the cave, which was pretty dark. "I wonder what's back there?"

"You're not thinking of going back there and leaving me here, are you?" Hikari asked, worriedly.

"If I had my phone I would, but I lost it in the sea."

Hikari pulled hers out of her pocket. "Mine's busted," she said, placing it back into her pocket. "All of that water got into it."

"Well, until we get a better light source, we'll just have to stay up front. Now, if you'll excuse me, I'm going to see what's on this island."

"You're going to leave me here?!"

"You can't do anything until we get a better splint for your ankle. The best thing for you to do is rest it so it can get better."

"How can it get better without any ice?"

"By not moving, or putting any pressure on it." He moved towards the mouth of the cave. "I'll be back after a while," he said. "Try to stay out of trouble."

"Har har," Hikari laughed dryly. "I thought you didn't want a friendly conversation?"

"I changed my mind."

"I don't get you sometimes."

"Neither do I," he said, leaving out of the cave.

"Alright, let's see what's around here," Daisuke said to himself when he got outside. He scanned the area, deciding where the best place to start looking was. He decided to head back towards the tree line from where they emerged from. Making his way through the trees again, he stopped at the root that Hikari tripped on.

'How could she not have seen this thing standing out of the ground?' he thought, kicking the root lightly. 'Granted, we were coming down a hill, but still.' He left the root and made his way east through the trees.

"This may or may not be a forest, depending on how big it is," he said, looking around as he walked. He began thinking about the past events that led up until now. 'First a hurricane, and now I'm stuck on an island with a girl that doesn't even like me, save for being a friend. _If _at all that.' The path he was on turned up to a steep hill. He began climbing it, wondering how far he was from the cave, and also wondering how Hikari was doing.

"Hope she's okay," he said. "I must be about a mile or two away from the cave now." He reached the top of the hill, which was tall enough for him to overlook every direction of the island. "Wow, this hill is huge." He turned to look in the direction he came from.

"So it was a forest," he said, looking at the tops of the trees. "Kind of small, though." A movement in the midst of the forest caught his eye. When he looked closer, there was nothing there.

'Must have been the wind, blowing the trees,' he thought. He looked out over the horizon, noting the cliff where they climbed to get to the top, and also the large, rocky cove that didn't have a ceiling. Something about it sent a shiver of excitement through him, though he couldn't explain why. He turned away from the scene and headed through the clearing towards some bushes. As he approached them, he heard the sound of running water. Quirking an eyebrow, he pushed his way through, and found himself looking down at a large forest glade. Several small waterfalls were splashing out of various rock formations all over the place into a large pool of water. At the front was a medium sized waterfall, pouring steadily out of a large hole in the rocks. It was the most beautiful thing Daisuke had ever seen.

'Hikari might like this,' he thought. He imagined watching her as she stripped her clothes off slowly, her beautiful, naked body calling for him. She would step to the edge of the drop off, raise both arms over her head, and do a perfect swan dive into the water. She would come up for air and look at him enticingly, her beautiful face dripping with water and her hair matted down. Cupping a breast, she would beckon him with a finger and smile at him...

Daisuke caught himself before he fell over the edge of the glade, breaking out of his imaginations. He looked down at the front of his pants, noticing a bulge in it. "Before I do something that requires me to use an alternative, I'd better go," he said. He turned around and was about to head back through the bushes again, when something tall and pointy to his right caught his attention, and he turned to look at it. There through the large ferns blocking the view, not more than two hundred yards away at another edge of the island, was what looked to be a crow's nest of a ship.

'What in the world...?' he thought. He turned in that direction and began making his way through the underbrush towards the object.

'I can't believe myself,' Hikari thought bitterly as she sat on the grass outside of the cave. She had painfully made her way there a few minutes after Daisuke left her. The cave was too dark and cold for her. 'How could I have been so clumsy to not see that tree root sticking out of the ground?' She looked down at her ankle. The purple coloration had gotten lighter, but her ankle was still swollen.

"Hope I didn't break or tear anything," she said. "It's still hard to believe that Daisuke was able to come up with a makeshift brace using my sock. I wonder when he became so smart?" She remembered the times when they used to hang out together on a weekend basis. He had always made her laugh with his goofiness. She reflected on the time when they were at the park one snowy weekend. They were walking and cracking jokes to each other and laughing the whole way. Hikari stooped down, grabbed a handful of snow, and chucked it at Daisuke, who was trying to flee when he saw what she was doing, and thus, a snowball fight ensued between them.

Hikari smirked at the memory. Those were happy times for her. That was before Takeru moved back to Odaiba.

'Takeru.'

Her smile faded. Things had gotten slightly complicated with his arrival. Though she had never forgot him, she was well overjoyed at the sight of her childhood friend, and started spending much of her time around him. She didn't notice how badly it hurt Daisuke that she ignored him most of the time. She figured he was just being his usual goofy self when he and Takeru were in the same vicinity and he would act like an idiot, in which Takeru would make a rude comment about him, making her laugh, and making Daisuke look like a bigger fool. Hikari looked down at the ring on her finger, touching it gingerly. A small part of her wondered how he was doing, but she was also wondering why he wanted to marry her. And more importantly, why did she accept? Suddenly the dream she had about Daisuke flashed through her mind.

"That wasn't a dream," she said to herself. "That actually happened. But why that memory in particular?" She let out a big yawn, finally showing the first signs of fatigue since they arrived on the island.

"That can wait," she said, stretching out on the ground. "I'm going to get some sleep until Daisuke gets back." She closed her eyes, and was claimed by sleep in a few seconds. On the far side of the island, Daisuke was doing the same thing.

"I'd like to check out whatever that is," he said to himself, stretching out in a patch of sun that shined through the large ferns. "But I haven't slept since last night. I'll deal with it when I wake up. Hikari should be okay until then." He closed his eyes and went to sleep as well.

----------------------

The ending to this chapter isn't all kosher, but I hope you like it.


	5. Unrequitted Love, Forbidden Passion

I hope you all are enjoying the story so far. I get a small case of writer's block sometimes because I don't know how to put my ideas into words at a few intervals, so don't be surprised if I don't show my face for a while...well, you can't see it anyway, but you get the point.

Disclaimer: I own a heart attack and some skittles, but no digimon.

**Chapter 5: Unrequitted Love, Forbidden Passion**

Daisuke didn't know how long he slept for. He woke up to find that his patch of sun was replaced by shade from a nearby group of ferns. He stood up, brushing dirt and grass off of his body and out of his hair.

"Must be high noon," he said to himself, looking up at the sun peeping through the brush. He stretched his limbs, cracking his neck as he did so. He picked up his goggles from the ground, dusted them off, and readjusted them on his head. "I needed that nap. I'd better go see how Hikari's doing before I look anywhere else on this island." He back tracked his way through the thick undergrowth, heading back towards the deep glade. As he emerged from the bushes surrounding the area, he startled a large deer that was grazing near the spot. He watched it as it bounded off into the woods opposite of the way he was going to go.

"So there are animals on this island," he said. "Wonder how they got here?" He figured he would find out later. Right now, he had to get back to Hikari.

'But what about her ankle?' he thought. 'That sock will only hold but for so long, and it's not strong enough to support her.' He looked around the clearing, spotting some large, elephant ear-shaped leaves off to the side.

"That'll do!" he exclaimed, jogging over to them. He inspected the leaves, finding them to be the right size for her small ankle, and plucked two of them off at the base of their stems. "Now I just have to wash them." He looked over at the glade. The waterfall was too far for him to reach, so that was out of the question. He looked down at the water, slightly amazed at how clear it was.

"Wow," he said. "I figured it would be a little brown, considering it came from the sea." He got on his hands and knees, peering over the edge for anything that will help him get down to the water without falling in, also to use to climb out _should _he fall in. He looked over towards the rock formation that held the waterfall. The cliffside next to the smooth rock wall was littered with large rocks in various places. Cocking his head to the side, he got up and made his way over to them.

'They look sturdy enough,' he thought, gingerly patting the topmost one with his foot. He prodded it a bit harder, making sure it can support his weight. Once he was satisfied, he carefully slid onto it. Crouching on the rock, he examined the other ones. Each one was about a foot below each other at separate intervals, either on the cliff, or the wall, and they varied in size.

'This is where my limber side shows,' Daisuke thought, smirking. Carefully judging his steps, he leaped from rock to rock, moving effortlessly down the maze until he reached the considerably large boulder sitting right behind and to the side of the waterfall. He looked up towards the cliff with a grin of triumph, which faded quickly when he realized how far down he was.

"Whoa," he said. "I must be about thirty feet down right now. Maybe even more." He turned away from the cliff, and proceeded with his task. Unfortunately, the boulder's edge was a few inches too high from the water, and the waterfall was STILL too far to reach.

"I'll be a monkey's uncle," he said, placing his fists on his hips. "This might be a little hard." He got down into a prone position and peered down into the water.

'This must go down for miles,' he thought. 'I can't even see the bottom.' He took the two plants and reached them down towards the water, only to find that he was mere inches from touching the surface. Making a face of annoyance, he scooted up a little. The leaves barely scraped the water. He scooted up a bit more, and before he could stop himself-

"WAAAHHH!!!"

KABLOOSH!

He fell into the water with a splash. He swam up to the surface, grabbing his goggles before they sunk past him. He broke the surface, and immediately slipped his goggles over his head onto his neck.

"From now on, I'm wearing them just like this," he said. He held up the plants. "At least these got washed, and me along with them." He began swimming his way back to the cliff to climb out.

"Man, what a nap," Hikari said, sitting up and stretching. "Unfortunately, I'm still on this island with Daisuke." She looked around. "Speaking of which, where is he? He's been gone for a while, now." She tried to stand, but forgot she had a hurt ankle. She yelped in pain, grabbing at it as she sat down again.

"This is so embarrassing, and no one's even around to witness it," she said. A rustle in the woods caught her attention.

"Who's there?!" she shrieked, grabbing a nearby rock and holding it in a throwing position.

"Relax, it's just me," Daisuke said, emerging from the woods holding the plants. She lowered the rock.

"What in the world happened to you?" Hikari asked, noticing how drenched he was.

"I had a run in with a large pond. What were you doing with a rock?"

"I was just being cautious."

"As if that would do any damage. I've an upgrade for your ankle." He held up the two leaves. "These should be sturdy enough to help you get around some. They won't last very long, but it's better than nothing."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course. It was part of my survival class." He moved over to her and knelt in front of her. "Besides, there's no point of leaving you lying on the ground with a hurt ankle." He set to work on her ankle, untying her sock and setting it aside. He broke the stem from the leaves, and wrapped the leaves vertically around her ankle. Holding them with one hand, he took one stem and wrapped it around the leaves, tying it off at the front. He let go and did the same with the other one. Since the stems were skinny enough, and since they were already wet, he was able to put them in knots to hold the there.

The whole time he was doing this, Hikari couldn't help but notice his muscles protruding from his damp shirt. Every move he made caused his muscles to flex unintentionally.

'He's got a nice build,' she thought. 'I wonder why I never noticed before?'

"Hikari, did you hear me?" Daisuke said, breaking her out of her trance.

"Huh?" Hikari looked up sharply with a surprised expression on her face.

"What in the world had you in such a daze? I was asking you how does your ankle feel?"

"Oh, uh..." she moved it a bit. "It feels a bit better."

"Great. Let's see if you can stand up." Daisuke stood and offered Hikari his hand. She grabbed it, and slowly stood up, using her good foot for support. Daisuke helped her by placing his hand on the small of her back. Unbeknownst to him, that happened to be one of her hot spots, and she automatically let out a coo when she felt his surprisingly smooth hand there.

"You okay?" Daisuke asked, thinking she was feeling a little pain in her foot.

It took Hikari a few seconds to get her bearings about her. "Uh, yeah. I'm fine," she said. 'I never thought his hands were that smooth! It almost felt as if he was massaging me. What am I thinking?! This is Daisuke! I can't be thinking these things about him!'

Willing to change the debate that was going through her mind, she asked him, "Where did you go that you had to get wet?"

"I already told you, a pond," he said. "Though not intentionally. I had to wash the leaves, and I fell in."

"Just how deep was this pond?"

"Well, to be more accurate, it's a large forest glade. Picture a giant hole with water in it. I'll have to show it to you when we get the chance, and believe me, it's pretty deep."

"I'm surprised you didn't drown."

"You sound like you wanted me to."

"The thought crossed my mind."

Daisuke snorted at her. "I also got your shoe wet. I forgot I had it in my pocket." He fished the shoe out of his pocket and emptied the excess water out of it. He handed it to Hikari who made a face.

"It needs to dry anyway," Daisuke said, shrugging and setting the shoe on the ground. "So do my feet." He quickly took off his shoes and socks, placing them beside each other so they could dry out.

"That feels great," he said, wriggling his toes. He looked at Hikari. "I just got an idea. Wait here." Before Hikari could say anything, Daisuke ran over to the woods, searching the ground for something. He came across a large stick that came up to his waist.

'This should work,' he thought, banging it against his hand a few times to test its sturdiness. He jogged back over to Hikari and handed her the stick.

"What am I supposed to do with this?" Hikari asked, taking the stick.

"Use it as a cane," Daisuke said. "It's a lot better than hobbling around, don't you think?"

"Yeah, problem is, I don't know how to use a cane. I've never had to use one, mind you."

"I'll show you. I had to use one once due to a soccer injury." He took the cane from her. "When you walk with the cane, you should have it on the opposite side of your hurt foot. In your case, since it's your right foot, you'll hold it in your left hand. You move your hurt foot at the same time you move the cane, like so," He demonstrated the movements a few times, then handed her back the stick. "You try it."

Hikari placed the stick in her left hand, and took one step forward, moving her foot and the stick at the same time.

"I feel like an old woman," Hikari said, sarcastically. After a few more slow rounds, she got used to walking with it. "I think I got the hang of it."

"Great, young grasshopper. Now we can go check out something I saw a while back along the western coast."

"What was it?"

"Might have been a ship, I'm not sure."

"If it is, I hope it has a radio on it so we can contact someone."

"Well, standing here talking about it won't do any justice. Let's go." He turned to leave.

"Wait, what about your shoes?"

"They still need to dry. They'll be fine. Besides, being barefoot is pretty comfy."

"Alright, if you say so," Hikari said, following Dausike as they walked towards the beach.

People on the ship were starting to get restless. It was enough that two people were missing, but having to stay on the boat all day was pretty aggravating. Go felt that it wasn't right for them to stay on the yacht like that, so after talking to the managers of some nearby hotels, restaurants, and stores that he owns, and giving each passenger a V.I.P card, he let them off.

"There's no word on Hikari and Daisuke yet," he told the concerned destined. "We're still looking for them. I'm pretty sure something will turn up."

"Thank you," said Ken. He was still a little down about Daisuke missing, but Miyako and the others were able to cheer him up. Takeru, on the other hand, was still pretty miffed.

"How can they think about having fun when my fiancee is missing?" he asked vehemently, watching as people walked off the yacht hastily.

"Because you're the only one who's worried about her," Saki said.

"We're all worried about her, and Daisuke," Iori said. "But that doesn't mean we have to wallow in our sorrows. The best thing we can do now is relax and enjoy ourselves until something happens."

"That's right," Miyako said. "Besides, Go has things under control. I'm sure he'll be able to find them. We just have to be patient. Now, who's ready?"

"Me!" everyone chorused, except Takeru.

"I'll stay here," he said, turning to leave.

"Why?" Rosa asked.

"I just don't feel like going anywhere."

"Well, you have to do something besides mope around the whole time," Saki said. "That's not going to get Hikari back any faster, and it isn't healthy."

"What are you, a health inspector now?" Takeru asked, turning towards her.

"Nope, just a concerned friend."

"And since when were we friends?"

"Since now. And as your friend, I'm going to help you loosen up." She linked an arm with Takeru's and pulled him towards the dock.

"Hey! What are you doing?!" Takeru protested as he tried to pull away from her grip, which to his surprise, was quite strong.

"You're going to have a good time, even if I have to force you!"

"Oh yeah. Now I see the resemblance," Miyako said, watching the fiasco.

"Resemblance to what?" asked Ken.

"To her and Daisuke. They've been friends since first grade, and they have a lot in common."

"So why didn't he just get with her?"

"Simply put, they didn't want to."

"Weird."

"Yeah. Anyway, let's catch up to them before we lose them."

"Hey, Miyako?" Rosa asked.

"Yeah?"

"Can I talk to you in private for a sec?"

"Uh, okay. Iori, Ken, why don't you two go on up ahead. We'll catch up to you."

Ken and Iori looked at each other, shrugged, and walked off the yacht.

"What's up?" Miyako asked when they were alone.

"Well," Rosa started, scratching the back of her head and looking down. "I don't know how to ask the question that's on my mind."

"Then just ask it," Miyako said. She noticed a slight blush on Rosa's cheeks.

"It's about...sex."

Miyako blinked at her. "That's something you learn about in school. You need a refresher course or something?"

"No! I mean...well, you know."

"Ah, I get it. This is your first time, and you want to know what to do."

"Well, yeah, pretty much." The redness of her cheeks deepened.

"Does Iori feel the same way?"

"I don't know. He never said anything about it."

"Naturally. Boys tend to lead girls on, making them think that they aren't worried about sex. It would be best to beat them to the punch."

"What do you suggest?"

Miyako chuckled. "What I'm about to tell you will take a while, so pay close attention. This is Miyako's class on How To Seduce A Man Before He Seduces You."

"What do you think, Takeru?" Saki asked him, holding a slim, blue qipao close to her body. They were at a clothing store looking at some clothes.

"I think that I should be back on the boat right now," he said.

Saki lowered the dress, looking at him deadpanned. "Takeru, kill the mully-grub act. It's really starting to become annoying."

"I'm sorry. It just doesn't feel right that I'm out here enjoying myself while Hikari's lost somewhere."

"Well, worrying your mind out isn't going to do any justice! What would she think if she was to come home and you had patches of hair missing on your head?"

"She would probably slap me."

"Exactly. Now, what do you think about this dress?"

"It's okay, I guess."

"You guess?"

Takeru shrugged. Saki let out a sigh.

"Wait here," she said, stepping into a nearby dressing stall.

'I shouldn't be here,' Takeru thought, pacing outside the stall. 'I should be trying to find a way to save Hikari. What if Mr. Hibiki doesn't find her? One thing's for sure, Daisuke had better keep his hands off of her if they're alive somewhere. Man, this is so frustrating!'

"Hey Takeru! We should find the others after we get out of here," Saki said, breaking through his train of thought.

"Uh, yeah."

"They're probably trying to find us now." She came out of the stall. "How's this?"

Takeru wasn't prepared for what he saw when he turned around. The qipao had fit Saki's shapely body perfectly, giving a good view of her nice, slender legs, the thick, tight curves of her body, and her perfectly round, supple breasts that loomed in the fabric. She held out her arms and turned in a slow circle, giving Takeru a good look at her nice, round butt, which for some reason made him want to grab her and start ramming her from behind right in the store. He quickly banished the thought as she turned back around to face him.

"So, how do I look?" she asked.

"Like a redhead...Japanese...Chun-Li," he replied, still trying to clear his mind. Saki giggled and gave him a smile that nearly made him melt.

"I'll take that as a compliment," she said, stepping back into the stall. "I think I'll buy this." She closed the door and started changing back into her regular clothes. Takeru stood there for a moment, looking at the stall door as she changed.

'Man, she looks hot in that thing,' he thought. 'Wait a minute! What am I thinking? I shouldn't be looking at her like that! I can't believe I let her drag me into this!'

"Where do you want to go when we find Miyako and the others?" Saki asked, coming out of the stall with the dress draped over her arm.

"Why are you asking me? I don't know my way around here."

"Which is exactly why we have a map." She pulled the map out of her pocket and handed it to Takeru. Takeru reluctantly took it.

"You know, I really don't want to do this," he said.

"Well, you have no choice now. So pick a place."

Takeru sighed. "Uh, dinner and a movie. I don't know."

"Gravy! Let's pay for this and find the others." They made their way to the checkout counter.

"You sure you have enough money to pay for that?" Takeru asked. "It looks to be a bit expensive."

"I should. If not, I'll have you help me."

"How would you know if I have the money to help you with?"

"That ring you gave Hikari didn't come from a toy machine." They reached the counter, and Saki laid the dress on top. The cashier looked up at her.

"Are you part of Mr. Hibiki's guests?" she asked.

"...Yes?" Saki said cautiously. The cashier nodded.

"Your V.I.P Card, please." Saki handed the card to her, not sure what the cashier was going to do with it. The cashier swiped the card through the credit card machine, and handed it back to Saki. Saki looked at her in bewilderment.

"Uh," she started.

"Thank you for your purchase, and have a great day," the cashier said. "And in case you're wondering, yes it's a credit card as well. Mr. Hibiki's rich enough to do that. I'm not sure how much he's put on the cards he gave you, but it's more than enough to have fun on."

"Where does he get his money from?" Takeru asked.

"No one knows," the cashier said. "Nor do any of us care, just so as long as we get paid."

"Fair enough," Saki said. "Let's go,Takeru."

"Do you have any idea where Takeru and Saki went?" Ken asked, scanning around the crowds.

"Not a clue," Iori said. "After all these years, I still can't see over the top of anyone's head."

"Don't count it as a total loss. At least you don't have to worry about bullets hitting you."

Iori made a face at Ken as he laughed. "What do you think the girls were talking about?" he asked.

"Girl stuff probably," Ken said. They started walking through the crowds. "Mind if I ask you a question, Iori?"

"What's up?"

"Are you a virgin?"

Iori looked at him sharply. "Come again?"

"Are you a virgin?" Ken repeated.

"What kind of question is that?"

"A question I'm curious about. So, what's your answer?"

"None of your business!"

"So that's a yes. I thought as much."

"How can you be so sure?"

Ken looked at him. "Iori, come on now. You're about the most obvious, easy-to-read person I know. Don't think I don't know that you're a virgin."

"Okay, so what if I am? Is that a bad thing?"

"I'm not saying anything. Though I am curious as to when you and Rosa will give it up to each other."

Iori huffed. "I don't know, whenever she wants, I guess."

"I guess I can't argue with that."

"When did you and Miyako first have sex?"

"On our first date."

Iori's eyes widened. "That fast?!"

"Long story. But back to you. How long have you guys been together?"

"For a good while now."

"What's a good while? A few months? A year?"

"Since tenth grade."

Ken gawked at him. "Wow," he said. "I guess it was a good thing that you waited then. But you're old enough now, so nothing should hold you back."

"Except..."

"Except what?"

"I...don't know the first thing about sex."

"You didn't pay attention in health class?"

"Not that! I mean having sex!"

"Oh." He reached into his pocket, drawing out his wallet and opening it. "First and foremost, you'll need this." He handed Iori a blue, square packet.

"Then what?" Iori asked, tucking the condom away in his pocket.

"Then, I'm going to teach you a few things on how to please a woman, so pay attention."

"Wow," Hikari breathed, looking at the large ship looming in the distance on the beach. "I wonder how it got stranded here?"

"If I had to guess, It would have to be from the cove back there. Look," Daisuke pointed towards a large hole in the side of the ship. "I'm supposing that it strayed off course somewhere along the line, and ended up passing through the cove, and considering how large the rocks are, it must have struck them and created that hole, then the tide carried it here to its final resting place."

"What do you think happened to the crew?"

"Died from lack of food and water, I suppose. Depending on how long this thing's been here." He began walking towards the ship.

"Don't tell me you're about to go on that thing!"

"Why not? It might have a few things that we need. You said it yourself that it might have a radio on it. What better way to find out than to go on board?"

"I'm starting to have second thoughts. It looks a bit creepy."

"Stay out here if you want." He turned and began walking towards the ship again.

"Wait up!" Hikari called, hobbling after him. Daisuke waited for her to catch up.

"Change your mind?" he asked.

"Someone has to keep you from hurting yourself."

Daisuke looked at her ankle, then back up at her. "Are you sure it's me that needs to be looked after?"

"Well, aside from the obvious!" Hikari said, shoving him lightly. Daisuke smirked and shook his head as they began walking towards the ship. They got to the ship, examining the large hole that was big enough to fit them both. Some large, red letters were just off to the side of the hole, which were halfway blotted out by it.

'This was obviously the name of the ship,' Daisuke thought. 'Though I'm not sure what the name was.'

"What now?" Hikari asked.

"We go inside," Daisuke said.

"Are you sure we should go this way?"

"Do you see any other way in?"

"I guess not."

"Then here we go."

They went inside, immediately noticing they were in the boiler room. There was something dim and misty about it that didn't fit right with either of them. They found their way up the stairs easily enough, and emerged onto a second floor that was littered with empty cages from various shapes and sizes. They held their noses as an acrid stench assaulted them.

"Ech, whad is dat sbell?" Hikari asked.

"Sbells like de elephant section ad de zoo," Daisuke said in the same manner. They made their way through the aisle of cages, noticing as they did the lack of signs on them.

'Hmm,' Daisuke thought.

"What do you think this all means?" Hikari asked, covering her mouth and nose with her hand.

"Not a clue," Daisuke said. "Let's get going before we suffocate." They found their way out of the room and found more stairs. The third deck was a bit more cleaner, aside from the fact that it needed to be dusted. Daisuke sneezed as a few particles drifted past his nose.

"Man, how long _has _this ship been here?" he asked, more to himself than to Hikari.

"To tell you the truth, I don't want to stick around long enough to find out," Hikari said.

"At any rate, a ship like this is bound to have some medical supplies," Daisuke said. "There might be a brace or something here for your ankle." They began walking down the hall, searching each door through the dim light that shown through the portholes for any sign that could mean medical. Finally they came across a door that had a large red cross on it.

"Looks like we found it," Hikari said.

"Looks like," Daisuke said, testing the door handle. The handle gave way, but the door didn't budge.

"Must be rusted shut," Hikari guessed.

"Probably so. Stand back," Daisuke said, moving back from the door a few paces.

"What are you about to do?"

"The obvious. Kick down the door."

Hikari looked at him skeptically. "Daisuke, stop trying to prove to me how strong you think you are," she said. "We both know you won't be able to break down that door. If anything, you'll end up hurting your foot and we'll both be at a loss."

Daisuke's expression didn't change. "Like I said before," he said, looking at her. "There's a lot about me that you don't know about." He turned back to the door, taking a deep breath and blowing it out while shaking his limbs.

'I wonder if I should be showing her this,' he thought, getting into a Jeet Kun Do stance. 'But then again, she doesn't believe me, so oh well.'

Hikari furrowed her eyebrows in puzzlement. 'Who does he think he is, Bruce Lee?' she thought. 'I still don't think he'll be able to break down the door.' If she was able to second guess her thought, she would have, for suddenly Daisuke stepped forward, pivoting on his right foot, and slammed his left foot into the door in a mighty roundhouse kick. The door immediately flew open, bending forward slightly and nearly flying off of its hinges as it leaned inward. Hikari stood there, gawking as Daisuke put his foot down.

"Any more doubts?" he asked her, suppressing the grin that threatened the corners of his mouth when he noticed her expression.

"..." Hikari was speechless for a few seconds.

Daisuke couldn't help but smile. "Hey," he said, snapping his fingers in her face. "Come back to reality now. Let's see what they have for your foot." He stepped inside, followed by Hikari.

"Where did you learn to do something like that?!" she asked him in bewilderment.

"I've known how to do that for a long time," he said, fishing through the cabinets for any kind of brace of some sort. He came across a one-size-fits-all ankle brace that he knew would fit Hikari's ankle. "I took Jeet Kun Do in twelfth grade, and became a black belt in it after graduation. Get on the bed."

"Why didn't you tell any of us?" Hikari asked, clamboring onto the bed, but having slight trouble. Daisuke helped her onto the bed.

"Would you have cared?" he asked her. He took the leaves off her ankle and slipped the brace onto it. It was just the right fit for her ankle, and was pretty comfortable. Hikari looked behind the broken door and noticed a three legged cane standing behind it.

"You think that would be a better cane than this one?" she asked, pointing towards it. Daisuke looked in the direction she was pointing.

"Most definitely," he said, grabbing it and handing it to her. He helped her down off the bed carefully. "You know what, we should take some of this stuff. It might come in handy in the future."

"Yeah, but what will we carry it with?" Hikari asked.

Daisuke looked around the room. His eyes settled on a large duffel bag hanging on the wall that had a red cross on it just like the one on the door. "Here we go," he said, grabbing it. He began putting medical items into it: bandages, ointment, wraps, bandaids, and a few other things that he thought would be helpful. He zipped up the bag and slung it on his shoulder.

"Let's see what else this derelict has," he said. He and Hikari left the room.

"Daisuke, I have a question," Hikari said.

"You seem to have a lot of them," Daisuke said. Hikari glared at the back of his head. "What's your question?"

"Are you still in love with me?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Because I want to know."

"Why?"

"Daisuke!"

"Seriously. Why?"

"I just want to know, that's all."

"That's not a very accurate answer." They turned down another hall that led to more stairs.

"It's the answer I'm giving you, now answer my question."

"No."

Hikari felt a pang of despair rush through her. "You mean, no as in you're not in love with me anymore?" she asked, trying to hide the sadness in her voice.

"I mean no as in I'm not going to answer your question." They arrived onto the third deck, where each wall was lined with rooms that had numbers on it. A light stench plagued the halls, but they didn't take notice to it.

"And just why won't you answer me?" Hikari asked, sobering up quickly when she heard his explanation.

"Because I don't want to. The sooner you give me an accurate reason, I just might think about answering you."

"That's not fair!"

"Neither are your actions, but you don't see me crying about it."

"What?"

"Hikari, don't play dumb," he said, turning to her. "You know well enough what you did, so don't try me like that."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?!"

"You know what I mean, Hikari. Obviously, you've seemed to have forgotten what we meant to each other. What _you _meant to _me_!"

"Daisuke, we didn't mean a thing to each other, and you know it!"

"Oh, really?"

"Yeah! You haven't done anything for me to even consider liking you, so don't even try the guilt trip on me!"

"Well, gee. I seem to recall a certain someone that was getting harassed by a group of boys years ago back when we first met, and someone else coming to her rescue! But that must have been my imagination I suppose."

Hikari opened her mouth to say something, but didn't as she realized he was right. Now she knew that it definitely wasn't a dream.

"Huh? What? Why aren't you saying anything? Could it be because I'm right? Wow! What a shocking revelation!"

"Daisuke, you didn't have do that."

Daisuke balled up his fists. "Hikari. Do not sit there and try to play Miss Innocent with me. You hurt me in more ways than one, and you didn't even _think _to stop and consider how I felt, have you?"

"You never told anyone what you were feeling, so how were we supposed to know?"

"I did tell you. I told all of you. You just didn't pay attention, and thought I was joking around because you've never noticed my serious side. The only people that were able to see it were Ken and Saki. At least they had enough humanity about them to take notice."

The mention of Saki's name made Hikari's blood boil. "Yow know what? I really don't like that girl," she said, vehemently.

"Oh, now we're getting mad at my friend?" he said. "You've only met her for the first time yesterday morning, and you're already hating her."

"She has eyes for Takeru, why shouldn't I be mad?"

"And I wouldn't be surprised if she gets him, either. She's liked him since she first laid eyes on him, but she was too scared to talk to him. I believe she's a lot more confident now."

"She'd better not touch him!"

"What are you going to do about it? You're stuck here, and she's over there. Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't because like me, she has something called respect."

"Respect? What do you know about respect?"

"I know that I have respect for other people's property, which is more than what I can say for some people around here."

"I'm not anyone's property!"

"Maybe not yet, but soon to be." He referred to the ring on her finger.

"This doesn't mean anything!" she yelled, holding up her hand with the ring on it. "You're just mad because I'm getting married to Takeru instead of you!"

"To be honest, I'm not even mad about that. That's something I don't even care about. I'm just wondering what happened to the sweet, caring Hikari that I first met back in fourth grade. I'm also wondering if you know that this is what you want. Have you ever considered that?"

"It is what I want."

"Is it? From what I can see, neither of you have a date set for the marriage. You're walking into this thing blindly, only aware of the fact that you're getting married. You yourself didn't even know that he was going to ask you to marry him, yet you're walking into this headlong with no sense of direction."

"How should you know what's going on with me?"

"Hikari, think about what you're doing!" Daisuke said with compassion in his voice. "How do you know if you're ready for this? You don't even know why he wants to marry you. I don't know either, but I get the feeling that it's not for the right reasons. I don't care if you don't believe me. I'm not asking you to. I just want you to trust me!"

"Why should you be concerned about me?!"

"Because I CARE FOR YOU HIKARI!!!"

That did it. Hikari looked at Daisuke, apparently stunned. Daisuke looked back at her with much the same look, trying to come to terms with what he just said.

"What...did you just say?" Hikari slowly asked. Daisuke looked away.

"I care for you," he said, looking at her again. "I've always cared for you. In truth, I've never stopped loving you. I only stopped chasing after you because I wanted you to have your space, but I've never stopped loving you. Hikari, I've always wanted the chance to give you what you deserved. A good, caring relationship filled with love and compassion! You just never gave me the chance to do that. Even though you're going to be getting married, I'll never stop loving you."

"Why?" she whispered.

"Why what?"

"Why do you care for me?"

Those words stung him in the heart. "You're asking me why do I care for you?" he asked. "Lady, something like that doesn't need an explanation. You should know why I care for you. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out." He turned from her. "Let's just hurry up and get off this ship." He walked away from her.

Hikari stood there for a few seconds. 'Why does he care for me?' she thought.

"Who's idea was it to see that boring movie?" Ken asked outside the movie theater. He, Miyako, Iori, and Rosa caught up to Takeru and Saki outside the clothing store, where Saki told them of their plans for a dinner and movie, or more precisely, movie and dinner.

"See what happened was..." Saki started.

"Save it," Ken said.

"Well, it looked interesting enough," Saki said, trying to defend herself. She looked over at Takeru. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm still trying to wake up from my nap in the theater," he said.

"Okay! I get it! So the movie was boring. You don't have to run a guilt trip on me." Everyone shared a laugh, even Takeru chuckled a bit.

"Nice to see you smiling again," Miyako said. "For a while there, I thought you were about to shrivel up from grief."

"Well, I am still a bit sad, but I guess I can't do anything right now," he said.

"That's the spirit!" Ken said, slapping him heartily on the back.

"Yeowch! That hurt!" Takeru exclaimed, holding his back.

"Sorry," said Ken. "What now?"

"It's time for eats!" Miyako said, pumping her fist in the air. Silence followed her exclaimation followed by the sound of crickets.

"Not sure that was necessary, but where should we go eat?" Rosa asked.

"Any place that has sushi," Saki said.

Takeru looked at her. "I was just getting ready to say that," he said. "I didn't know you liked sushi."

"About as much as anyone. Do you like the raw fish or the seaweed?"

"Both."

"So do I."

"You're not just saying that, are you?"

"No, I'm serious. That restaurant by the college has some great sushi."

"You noticed too? Wow!"

"Hey! Are you two going to stand there and talk the whole time?!" Miyako shouted from up ahead. "Let's get going!"

"Wait up, will you?!" they shouted, running towards them.

"This place looks great," Rosa said, looking around the restaurant. "I've always wondered how Chinese food and Japanese food differed from each other."

"There's nothing that different about it," Iori explained. "They both serve egg rolls."

"Nice, they have saki on the menu," said Miyako, looking at the menu.

"I'm on there? Cool," said Saki, glancing at her menu. "Spelled the same way and everything."

"You were named after rice wine?" Takeru asked. "Why?"

"Ask my parents. They can explain it better."

"...Okay..."

"Good evening, ladies and gentlemen," greeted a waiter. "On behalf of Mr. Go Hibiki, I would like to welcome you to our finest restaurant. My name Min Cho, and I'll be your waiter for this evening. What would you like to drink this evening?"

Miyako, Ken, and Saki looked at each other. "Saki," they said together, smiling.

"Make that six," Saki said. Takeru, Rosa, and Iori looked at her in bewilderment.

"Six orders of saki. Got it," he said. "I'll go and get your drinks, and take your time in ordering." He turned and sauntered off.

"Six orders?!" Iori said. "What are you thinking?"

"I was thinking about all of us. Besides, Takeru needs it, and you two are hanging with the big crowd now. It's time for you to enjoy yourselves."

"Yeah, but...don't you think we're a little young for it?" Rosa asked.

"Just think of it as being prepared for the future," Ken said. "What better time than now to start practicing?"

A few minutes later the saki was brought out, and everyone placed their orders. Rosa and Iori gagged on their first sip, since they didn't pay heed to the warning of not gulping it so quickly. Saki was surprised that Takeru didn't choke on the strong drink. He mentioned that he drank a little back in high school without his mom knowing. After a few more shots and the food being brought out, Rosa and Iori were starting to get slightly tipsy.

"Um, wow," Iori said. "My grandpa would probably kill me for this."

"Well, you don't have to worry about it for now," Miyako said. She, Ken, Takeru, and Saki were still pretty level.

"If anything, he'll have something to worry about later," Rosa said, grinning at him seductively.

"Wonder what it is?" Iori asked in like manner.

"I think you guys had enough," Ken said, taking their glasses fom them as they cuddled their faces against each other. He turned to Takeru. "How are you holding up?"

"I'm doing fine," Takeru said. "Thanks for doing this."

"That's what we're here for."

"It was getting to be a real pain watching you torture yourself," said Miyako.

"Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away." He noticed Saki staring at him out of the corner of his eye. "Is...there a reason that you're staring at me?"

"I just like looking at you," Saki said. Takeru wasn't prepared for that answer, and he started blushing madly as he turned away from her.

"I think I need another drink," Ken said, pouring some saki into his cup.

"So, uh, how's your food, Takeru?" Miyako asked, trying to change the subject.

"Oh, it's great," he said, his voice breaking a bit. He felt uncomfortable under Saki's gaze, which she still had on him. "The sushi's pretty good too, not to mention the fried rice..."

"Do you masturbate, Takeru?" Saki suddenly asked. Ken spit up his drink, Miyako slapped her hand over her face, and Iori and Rosa looked at Saki in shock. Takeru stared at her in complete bewilderment for a second.

"I'm sorry?" he said.

"Do you masturbate?" Saki repeated.

"I'm not sure that's something to be talking about now," he said nervously. He looked at Ken, who immediately put his head down, but was shaking with laughter.

"Why not? I think it's a good subject. I do it."

"Um, I'm sure that's good to know, but I really don't want to talk about that just now."

"Maybe some other time, then?"

"Uh, well," he grabbed the bottle of saki and poured himself another shot. Saki grinned at him.

"Don't worry, I was just picking with you," she said. She grinned at Ken, who still had his head down, and was now snorting from laughing so hard. Everyone couldn't help but laugh, even Takeru.

After the restaurant, the gang decided to head back to the ship, except Iori and Rosa. They decided to check into a hotel for the night. Miyako and Ken decided at the last minute to walk around the town and explore, which left Saki with the task of helping a really tipsy Takeru back to the ship. The street lights illuminated the road leading to the dock, and the night breeze was warm and welcoming. Along the way, as she stumbled around trying to keep Takeru steady, he kept saying things like how beautiful she was, or how he wanted to kiss her. Saki knew he was drunk, but at the same time, she couldn't help but blush. They finally reached the ship, and made their way to Takeru's room. Luckily, it was on the first deck on the opposite side of hers.

"Well, here we are," she said.

"Huh?" Takeru took a few seconds to get his bearings and see that they were at his room. "Oh, right." He dug in his pocket for his keys, and dropped them as soon as he got them out. He groaned as he stooped to pick them up, but kept missing them as he tried to plant his hand on them. Saki grabbed the keys from the ground and helped him stand back up.

"Here we go," she said as she unlocked the door. She helped him inside, grabbing the keys from the lock and closing the door.

"Um, where's the bed?" Takeru asked.

"Open your eyes and you'll see," Saki said, turning on the light and guiding him towards his bed.

"Oh, right," Takeru said. As soon as he opened his eyes, he forgot where he was stepping, and tripped up on Saki's leg, which resulted in both of them falling onto each other with a yelp, and Takeru landing on top of her. They stayed in that position, looking at each other.

"Sorry," Takeru said.

"Um, no biggie," Saki said, not making much of an effort to move. They stared into each other's eyes, unaware that their faces were getting closer.

'Man, she feels amazing,' Takeru thought. 'Wait a minute!'

"Um, well, I think I'd better get up," he said, slightly dissappointed that he didn't kiss her. He tried to get up, but quickly fell back down again as dizziness overtook him.

"Here, let me help you," Saki said, grabbing him by the arm and hauling him up. She guided him to the bed, and he flopped on it.

"Th-thanks," he said, his eyes half way closed.

"No problem," Saki said, positioning him on the bed so he wasn't dangling half off. She started taking off his shoes.

"Daisuke's lucky to have a friend like you," Takeru said, tiredly.

"Thanks," Saki said, taking off his other shoe and setting them at the foot of the bed. "And you're-" She didn't finish the sentence as she heard him snoring lightly. She stood up and noticed that he was fast asleep. She grinned, noticing how peaceful he looked. She moved to where his head was, and leaned down.

"Goodnight, sweet prince," she whispered, kissing him on the cheek. "See you tomorrow." She got a little bold, and kissed him on the lips, and was none too surprised when he started kissing her back. She pressed her lips harder onto his, and he lifted his hand and started caressing her neck, but suddenly stopped as he fell back to sleep. Though Saki was a bit dissappointed that the kiss ended, she wasn't sad. She got up and left the room, taking one last look at his sleeping form, before turning out the light and closing the door.

Iori and Rosa checked into the nearest hotel. The saki started to lose its affect on them so they were aware of their surroundings, but were still a bit drunk. As a side effect, they were both aroused, and along the way they kept teasing each other with touches, gropes, and "accidents", in which case Rosa would sometimes bend down slowly to tie her shoe, sticking her rear out as she did so, and Iori would act like he wasn't watching where he was going and bump into her, grabbing her butt as he did so. People would look at them strangely, but they didn't care. All they knew was that they were having fun with each other. They finally made it to the hotel, stumbling up to the front desk. The clerk looked at them, slightly puzzled.

"Let me guess," said the clerk. "You want a room?"

"Yes ma'am," Iori said, doing his best to stand up straight. He failed miserably, and he and Rosa burst out laughing. The clerk sighed, checking the computer for available rooms.

"You're part of Go's guests, right?"

"Yes we are," Rosa said.

"I have a suite open if you want it. All I need is your V.I.P card."

Iori and Rosa looked at each other and grinned. "That would be great," they said together, which resulted in them laughing more. The clerk shook her head, taking Iori's card and swiping it through the credit card machine. She handed it back to him with a key card.

"You're all set," she said. "You're room is on the top floor, room #1120. Breakfast is from five-thirty a.m. until six-thirty. Make sure to return the card to the front desk before leaving the hotel."

"Thank you very much," Iori said in a fake polite voice. Rosa pushed him towards the elevator while planting her lips on his cheek. The clerk looked after them as they stumbled into the elevator locked in a kiss.

"Kids," she said to herself.

Iori and Rosa had a little fun in the elevator, despite someone else being in there with them. They stood towards the back of the elevator, leaning against the wall. They kissed and teased each other, slipping their hands under each other's shirts and moaning to each other's touch. The guy in there with them stood towards the front of the elevator, doing his best to ignore them. He felt ashamed that he was getting aroused just by listening to them.

'Why can't me and my wife be like that?' he thought.

The elevator finally reached the top floor, and the three passengers got off. The man hurried to his room, although he knew that his wife wouldn't be willing to do anything with him. Iori and Rosa made their way to the room, in which Rosa nabbed the key from Iori and ran down the hallway, and Iori chased her until they arrived at the room.

"What do you think is inside?" Iori asked.

"We won't know until we go in, now will we?" Rosa answered, slipping the key card into the door slot and opening the door. Cutting on the lights, they looked around the grand room. Iori gave a low whistle.

"This place is huge," he said.

"And clean," said Rosa. While it wasn't the largest suite the hotel had, it was big enough for the both of them. A large bath/jacuzzi tub with steps that led up to it sat in one portion of the room, while a king size bed and a stereo with a remote sat in the other portion. The middle portion was decorated with a widescreen TV, two couches, a table with a bowl of fruit on it, and a large wardrobe. Rosa went to explore this while Iori went over to the jacuzzi.

"This is cool," Iori said. "How many people you think could fit in here?"

"All it needs is just me and you," Rosa said, inspecting a red satin robe that she found inside the wardrobe.

'Now what idiot would leave this here?' she thought. She looked inside to see if there was a name written on it, but there wasn't any. Instead, she found a tag that read:

Compliments Of Shanghai Hotels

Please Enjoy Your Stay

'How nice,' Rosa thought. Looking at the robe, she got an idea.

"Iori, come here, please," she said.

"What's up?" he said, walking over to her. She wrapped her arms around his waist, putting the robe between them.

"I just got an idea. Why don't you go lay on the bed and get comfortable. I'll be right back." She kissed him on the cheek and sauntered off to the shower room.

'This should be interesting,' Iori thought, walking over to the bed.

It was nearing sunset when Daisuke and Hikari were done with the ship. Neither one of them had said anything to each other after their argument. Before leaving, Daisuke had put several more items into the bag which included a box of matches, a flare gun that had only one round in it, and some other things he thought would be essential. To their surprise, there was no radio on the ship, but an old morse code machine was in the ship's cabin. To make matters worse, neither of them knew a single thing about morse code, so they just left it alone. A single green blanket was found among the many bunk rooms that lined both sides of the hall. They figured the crew must have abandoned the ship when it crashed, but why leave all of the gear? And what was with all the cages? They found out soon enough when they opened one of the doors to a bunk room and found a half-eaten corpse rotting on one side of the room, which also gave the answer to the faint sickly sweet smell that lingered the hall earlier. Hikari immediately lost part of her stomach at the sight of it, which was accompanied by the full force of the smell. Daisuke put his hand over his nose and went closer to the body. Upon closer inspection, he found large teeth marks adorning the neck and torso, and part of where the flesh was torn from the abdomen was rotting away.

'We really need to get off this island,' he thought.

Back at the cave, they set the stuff down, and Daisuke went to go gather some dry wood and leaves. Hikari found some rocks strewn about the cave and arranged them in a neat circle. Daisuke came back in with his arms full of forest debris. He looked at the stone circle, then up at Hikari.

"For the fire," Hikari said. "It'll help keep the wood in place."

Daisuke nodded and set the wood in the middle of the circle. He fished around in the bag for the matches, since the light from outside was starting to dim. Finding them, he opened the box, took out a match, and struck it on the side of the box. The small light surrounded them with a warming welcome. He carefully put it in the middle of the pile of wood, and immediately it caught fire, bathing half the cave in warm, flickering light. Daisuke added a bit more wood to the fire to keep it from going out, and the fire stayed at a steady height.

"Daisuke, you did-" Hikari started off saying happily, but her smile faded when he gave her an expressionless glare. Without saying a word, he sat down in front of the fire to warm himself. Hikari slowly followed, using the cane to lower herself and sticking her foot out to the side to keep it from harm. After a minute, she looked at Daisuke, who had his knee drawn close to his body, and his hand resting on it. She stared into his eyes, noticing as she did how beautiful and enticing they looked against the flickering of the fire. Daisuke darted his eyes to her, and she quickly averted her eyes, slightly blushing.

'What's going on?' she thought to herself. 'I never realized Daisuke could be so serious. I don't know if we even _had _a thing for each other, so what did he mean by what I meant to him? Why does he even care for me?' She started shivering a bit as the cave started growing cold, and scooted closer to the fire. Daisuke noticed it and handed her the blanket that was behind him.

"Um, thanks," Hikari said, taking the blanket and wrapping it around herself. It got quiet in the cave again. Daisuke picked up a small stick from the pile of debris and took out his pocket knife. Opening it, he began wheedling on the stick. Hikari looked on, wondering how long he had the knife. The question of why he cared for her kept burning in the back of her mind. It wasn't really the question that bothered her, it was about everything he said. She wanted to know if he really meant it.

"Daisuke-"

"Hikari," Daisuke snapped, looking at her sharply. "I don't want to hear it."

"Daisuke please, just-"

Daisuke held up his palm towards her and closed it, signifying her to be quiet. Hikari drew her knees close to her body, being careful not to hurt her ankle. She hugged her knees and tucked her head a bit, while staring at the fire. She felt hurt, not from him ignoring her, but from the realization that she might have actually hurt him.

'What did I do?' she thought. She tucked her head a bit more as her eyes started watering up. She closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip as she tried to keep from crying. 'I want to go home.'

Daisuke looked at her. 'What an idiot I'm being right now,' he thought to himself. Here he was, trapped on an island inside a cave with the only girl that has ever meant anything to him, and he's making her cry.

"Hikari?"

Hikari looked up at him solemnly. Her eyes were wet from unshed tears. Daisuke looked away from her, from fear of crying himself.

"I'm sorry," he said. "I didn't mean to make you cry. I was just mad, that's all. If you want to talk about it, then let's get it off our chests now."

"Daisuke, why do you care for me?" Hikari blurted out. Daisuke restrained himself from breaking the piece of wood in his hand.

"Why shouldn't I care for you?" he asked, looking at her. "I mean, isn't that what a regular guy is supposed to do? Care for a lady? Why do you ask that question?"

"Well, it's just that," She diverted her attention to the fire. "I thought you were just following in my brother's footsteps, since you idolized him so much. You started to seem more like a brother to me rather than a friend. Is that what you meant by what we meant to each other?"

"No, it was something greater than that," Daisuke told her, looking at her squarely. "You once told me that you cared for me just as much as you did your brother, perhaps more than anyone else. Tell me, did that mean that you felt as if I was more of a brother to you than anything else?"

Hikari stayed silent, not sure how to answer that question. What _did _she feel for him all those years ago? Was it a simple infatuation, or more than that? Perhaps it was the enjoyment of watching someone who constantly tripped over himself just to get close to her, only to turn down his advances.

"I-I um..." she stuttered.

"It's alright," Daisuke said. "You don't have to answer. Just remember this. I love you, girl. Nothing's going to change that. Like I said before, I don't care if you get married, I'm never going to stop loving you. What I really want is for you to decide what you're going to do. Hikari, you have to ask yourself, are you really ready for this? Are you ready to make a commitment to someone that might not be the right person for you? I'm not saying that Takeru's a bad guy, but is he the one that you truly want to be with? I guess what I'm trying to say is give me a chance, Hikari. Just one chance is all I need to prove to you that I can give you the love that you deserve, and so much more. I may not be the most classy guy you've ever met, but I don't care about that. I only care about you. I want to do my best to give you the world. And if you decide that you don't want to see me again, that you don't want anything to do with me, then I'll leave you alone. I'll be out of your life and you won't hear from me again, just so as long as you're happy. If Takeru is able to give that to you, then more power to him. All I want is for you to have a happy life for as long as you live."

Hikari was speechless. Emotional conflicts were raging in her mind. How was she to know what Daisuke felt for her? Maybe he's just leading her on, but he looked so sincere, almost as if he was going to cry. She searched his brown eyes, and found that they held all the truth in the world, plus a mix of saddness, lonliness, and longing for someone he wishes he could have. Again she wanted to say something, but she didn't know what to say.

"Don't worry yourself about it," he told her. "Let's just go to sleep, and hope that something happens in the morning." He positioned the bag behind his head, and stretched parallell to the fire, staring up at the ceiling. Hikari watched him for a few seconds, then scooted over to where he was.

"May I?" she asked. Daisuke shrugged, and scooted away from the fire to give her room on the bag. Hikari covered both their bodies with the blanket, and turned onto her side facing the fire, while he turned to face the cave wall. They laid there for a while, neither one of them getting sleepy. They were both thinking about what just happened a few moments ago. Daisuke felt slightly embarrassed at telling her what he felt. Hikari was conflicting with herself. On one hand, she was getting married to Takeru, her childhood friend and someone that she cared for deeply. And then there's Daisuke, the guy who inadvertedly saved her from a group of rude boys, and was apparently her first crush after Takeru moved away for those few years, and would also do anything for her. If that wasn't enough, she was starting to fall for him.

'What am I going to do?' she thought. 'I don't want to lose him, but I don't want to lose Takeru either. What am I going to do?!' She curled up into a ball and started weeping silently. Daisuke heard her between sobs, and was tempted to turn around and comfort her, but he was already in tears anyway, so they both stayed in the positions the were in, crying themselves quietly to sleep.

--------------------------

Finally! This chapter's done. I didn't plan on making it this long, but things kept coming to my attention. I'll get on the sixth chapter as soon as I can.


	6. Red Shoe Diaries part 1

The next two chapters are mainly focusing on two couples. You know who they are.

Disclaimer: I don't own anything.

**Chapter Six: Red Shoe Diaries Part 1**

Takeru woke up with a heavy groan. He tried to sit up, but had to lay back down again as a very sharp pain crashed through his head.

"Oh, man," he said. "Feels like I was hit by a train." He rolled off the bed and fell onto the floor with a thud.

"What did I do last night?" He sniffed at his shirt. "And why do I stink?" A sudden knock sounded on his door, making his head hurt even more. With a moan, he dragged himself to his feet and stumbled in the dark towards the door.

"Whaddya want?" he said gruffly from behind the closed door.

"I want you to open the door," said a male's voice from the other side.

"Who is this?"

"It's Trent. Open the door!"

"Tell me what time it is first."

"It's almost noon."

"Man, I slept that long?" Takeru said to himself as he opened the door, and quickly covered his eyes with his hands as the sunlight stung them.

"Jeez, Takeru. You look like Death's son," said Trent, looking at Takeru's half-sleep countenance. He covered his nose when he caught the stench emanating from Takeru's body. "And you smell like foot and butt! What did you do last night?!"

"I went out on the town," Takeru said tiredly, holding his head.

"And you slept in the same clothes as last night too, I take it."

"Dude, what do you want?"

"Sorry. Mr Hibiki is having everyone meet on the dock. Says there's something he wants to pass to us."

"What about?"

"Don't know. Word on your fiancee, maybe?"

Takeru perked his head up a little. "Do you think that's it?" Trent shrugged.

"You'd better hurry up then," he said, turning away from Takeru.

"Wait! Let me change clothes."

"No time for that. You can do that when he's done."

"Good grief," Takeru sighed, stumbling out of his room after Trent.

At the dock, everyone was crowded around Go, who had a bullhorn in his hand. Takeru groaned when he heard Go talking through it, as more pain shot through his hangover headache.

"I HAVE A BIT OF NEWS FOR EVERYONE," he said.

"Is it good, or bad?" someone asked.

"DEPENDS ON HOW YOU TAKE IT. IT SEEMS THAT WE WILL HAVE TO STAY HERE FOR A DAY OR TWO MORE, PERHAPS THE REST OF THE WEEK. REASON FOR BEING IS BECAUSE WE NEED TO BE SOMEWHERE STATIONARY IN THE CASE THAT DAISUKE AND HIKARI ARE FOUND BY THE SEA PATROL. IF THAT IS THE CASE, THEN I WILL DO WHAT I CAN TO SEE THAT THIS TRIP HAS NOT GONE TO WASTE. I WILL KEEP YOU UPDATED ON THE CURRENT SITUATION PERIODICALLY. AS OF RIGHT NOW, WE HAVE NO LEADS AS TO WHERE THEY MIGHT BE, BUT WE ARE STILL WORKING ON IT. UNTIL THEN, PLEASE ENJOY YOURSELVES AS MUCH AS YOU CAN. THANK YOU." With that, everyone dispersed.

"I barely understood half of what he was talking about," Takeru said, his senses coming back to him a bit.

"He said that we might have to stay here for maybe a day or two more," said Trent.

"I understood that, but what did he say about Hikari?"

"No word on their whereabouts yet."

"Their?"

Trent looked at him a little surprised. "Her and Daisuke," he said.

Takeru blinked in slight confusion. "Oh yeah, him," he said with a dismissive wave of his hand. "Who cares where he is?"

"I do, for one," Saki said, coming up to them with a stern expression on her face. Trent slowly backed away until he was far enough to leave before the fireworks started.

"What's your problem?" Takeru asked, slightly slurred.

"You," she said, quite forcefully.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. Takeru, I realize you're half drunk, you have a hangover, and you smell like a brewery, but you are really starting to tick me off with that attitude you have towards Daisuke. I don't know what he did to make you hate him so much, nor do I care, but you need to drop it before I do it for you." She brushed past him, bumping his shoulder harshly in the process.

'What was that all about?' Takeru thought, touching his shoulder.

"Hey, Takeru. Can I talk to you for a minute?" Ken asked coming up to him.

"Please, don't talk so loud," Takeru said, holding his head in pain.

"I should just hold your ear open and scream into it. What's gotten into you?"

"What do you mean?"

"Your attitude. You never used to act like that, even when you're sober. I've told you before, you'd better slow down before something happens to you that you won't like."

"Look, Ken. I really can't comprehend on what's going on right now. All I know is that I'm in serious need of a shower. Hopefully that'll clear up my head."

"You go do that. And when you're done, find Saki and apologize to her. You hurt her feelings by what you said."

"I did?"

Ken rolled his eyes. "Just go take your shower!" he said, violently shoving Takeru towards the boat. Takeru nearly fell as he grabbed for the ramp railing.

"Th-that wasn't necessary," he said, climbing his way up the ramp. Ken stared after him with a stern, but sympathetic gaze.

"Takeru, you need to straighten up," he said in a low voice.

--------------------------

Back in his room, Takeru made his way to the bathroom. Fortunately, he had enough sense to turn on the shower and take off his clothes before he got in. The only drawback was that he forgot to turn on the hot water as well. The cold blast of water woke him up fully.

"GAAHH!!" he yelped, falling out of the shower onto the floor. "Now I really am awake." He picked himself up off the floor and adjusted the hot water so the shower was warm enough for him. He got back in, and let the water run over his body for a few minutes.

'I must have been really out of it,' he thought to himself. 'I didn't think I'd actually do anything like that.' He reflected on what just took place a few moments ago. First Saki, then Ken. Ken wasn't really an issue, since him and Daisuke are best friends. Saki on the other hand...

Takeru closed his eyes as he thought about her. 'Feisty she is, and cute, I'll admit that. Don't know if I would want anything to do with her. Come to think of it, I felt someone kissing me last night. Could have been a dream, but still...'

An image of Saki's body wrapped in the blue qipao crept into his mind, making his eyes shoot open. "Where'd that come from?" he asked himself. He couldn't help but notice that the image sparked a feeling in his body, one he knew shouldn't be there.

'This isn't good,' he thought, leaning against the shower wall and squeezing his eyes shut. 'I'm in love with Hikari, not her! I'm not supposed to be thinking about that girl like that.' No matter what he tried to do, he couldn't keep the images of Saki out of his mind. He even tried to replace her with images and thoughts of Hikari, but to no avail. They would always revert back to Saki. He would imagine her walking up to him slowly in a white, silk, see-through gown that stopped above her knees in which she had nothing on underneath so he could see her shapely body, nice round breasts with her nipples perked up, and the thin line of red pubic hair above her swollen area which was wet in anticipation for him to enter her. He would be sitting on the couch stark naked, his member standing at its full height, ready to enter her soft folds...

Takeru shot his eyes open and looked down at his hard member. 'I think I'd better turn this into a cold shower,' he thought, reaching for the hot water knob. He hesitated for a moment, wondering if he should let this ride or not, and decided not to turn off the hot water.

"Aw, forget it," he said, leaning back on the shower wall again and closing his eyes. He grabbed his member as he thought about Saki again.

Takeru finished taking his shower and turned off the water. Since he was the only one in his room, he didn't bother getting a dry towel. He walked back into the room and dug through his suitcase for something to wear.

'I can't believe I did that,' he thought. 'The fact that I thought about Saki like that and masturbated on it is pretty crazy. Hikari would kill me if she knew.' He finished getting dressed, and headed towards the door, grabbing his wallet and keys in the process. He paused at the door.

"So to answer your question, Saki," he said to himself. "Yes, I do masturbate." He turned the lights off and left his room, making sure to lock the door.

---------------------

"You okay, Saki?" Miyako asked as she and Saki walked down the crowded street.

"Yeah, I'll be fine," Saki said, slightly muddled. "It's just the remnants of this stupid hangover."

"I didn't know you had one. It was hard to tell."

"Yeah. I tend to get real miffed when I have one. It should be completely gone by this afternoon, hopefully. Plus, I didn't drink that much to have a heavy one." She turned to Miyako. "What are you about to do?"

"I don't know. Do a little shopping, I guess."

"Trying to find something sexy for Ken?"

"...That too, but I'm trying to find something for myself as well."

Saki released a chuckle. Miyako grinned at her. "What are you going to do?"

"Just do a little walking to clear my head. Maybe I'll run into some sort of event that's happening...like that," she pointed to a poster stapled to a wall. "There's a carnival going on at the south end of town. I might as well go check that out."

Miyako shrugged. "Okay," she said. "You're just going by yourself?"

"You know anyone else that'll be willing to go with me?"

"Guess not."

"See? Anyway, I'm off."

"Alright, see you around." Miyako said. Saki just tipped her head towards her, and walked off. Miyako stared after her for a few seconds.

'Daisuke said the same thing,' she thought as she turned from Saki and went about her way.

On the way to the carnival, Saki lost herself in her musings. She thought about what she said to Takeru, surprised that she even remembered, since she was drunk when she said it.

'I need to slow down with that stuff,' she thought to herself. 'It's starting to affect my judgement.' She waited at a street intersection for the no walking sign to change to walking. As soon as it did, she jogged across the street to the other side. Since she kept glancing from left to right to make sure there weren't any cars coming, she failed to notice the two slightly stocky Chinese guys directly in front of her, and collided into them head on, nearly knocking them over.

"Hey, woman! What's your problem?" one of them said.

"Sorry, I didn't see you there," Saki said, moving around them to continue on. One of the boys stepped in front of her.

"That's not going to cut it," he said. "You owe us a better apology."

"I said sorry," she said, getting slightly annoyed. "What else do you want?"

"First off, you need to learn some manners," said the other boy.

"Manners?!"

"Yeah. Get down on your knees and beg for mercy like a good hun!"

Saki nearly blew her top. "Who are you calling a hun, you chink!" she yelled, getting in his face.

"You'd better recognize your place, before I make you!" he shouted, getting in her face as well.

"I'd like to see you try!" The first boy went to grab her arm, but she pulled it away. "Get your hand off-" she was cut off with a vicious backhand fist from the second boy. She let out a yelp as her head snapped to the left, which caused her to stumble a little in that direction.

"HEY!"

The two boys turned their heads towards the road to see a blond headed boy walking up with a heated expression on his face.

"Who are you?" the first boy said.

"None of your business," Takeru said. "Leave the girl alone."

"And if we don't?"

"Then I'll have to force you."

The two boys laughed mockingly. "Looks like there's someone else here that needs to learn their place in this country," the second boy said. They both started advancing on Takeru. Throughout this, the two boys didn't notice Saki as she straightened up, eyes closed. She cracked her neck on both sides, and flashed her eyes open, which had a feral look to them. She turned towards the boys.

"You have bigger things to worry about right now," she said in a calm, cold voice. The boys turned around to face her. As soon as they did, she socked the one that hit her square in the jaw, sending him reeling off to the side.

"Hey!" shouted the other boy, getting ready to charge her. That's when Takeru stepped in and delivered a strong cross kick to his gut, doubling him over, and causing him to back up. Takeru walked slowly towards him. Since he wasn't kicked very hard, the boy recovered quickly and tried to charge Takeru, who sidestepped the attack and tripped his foot, sending him falling face first onto the ground.

Saki ducked under a punch thrown by her opponent, and slammed her fist into his ribs, causing him to lean down, and very quickly headbutted him in his eye. He backed up, holding his eye and his rib as he watched Saki bounce around in a comfortable fighting position with her hands up.

"Come on," she said, a light smirk playing on her face. With a grunt, he came at her with a barrage of fists, which she easily dodged. She found an opening and hit him quickly in the chest three times with her right fist, and came across his face with her left. He stumbled backwards and attempted to block her next two strikes, but failed to stop the knee that found its way to his abs, followed by a snap kick to the chin by the foot of that same leg, then another blow to the chest sending him back.

Takeru blocked the hits from his guy, moving in a style that was somewhat choppy, but nonetheless fluent. His feet would move in a sort of backwards triangle, sometimes off to the side, sometimes moving forward, but constantly keeping the boy off balance. He pushed aside a punch from the boy, which left him wide open, and got in close to him, and started tearing his ribs and chest up with palm strikes that rendered the boy helpless. A final blow to the chin knocked him down, just as Saki did a roundhouse kick on her guy, making him fall on top of the other one. Takeru walked over to stand next to Saki as the boys got up painfully.

"You try something like that again, and it'll be worse," Takeru said. The boys just looked at them.

"Come on, man! Let's go!" one boy said as they picked themselves up and rushed off. Takeru turned to Saki, who was looking at him expressionless.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah, thanks," she said nonchalantly. She turned to leave.

"Uh, w-wait," Takeru said, reaching for her.

"What, Takeru?!" she said forcefully, jerking her shoulder from him as she turned to him.

"Look, I just want to apologize, okay?"

"So apologize already!"

"What's gotten into you?"

"Takeru-"

"Okay, okay. I'm sorry about what I said about Daisuke."

"There. You apologized. Now leave."

"You know, I was just trying to be nice," Takeru said sternly. "I guess I caught you at a bad time." He turned and started walking off. Saki put her hands up to her face and rubbed vigorously with a frustrated sigh.

"Takeru, wait," she said, getting his attention. "I'm sorry. It's just...I'm just a little ticked right now, that's all."

"A little?"

"Well, maybe not by your standards. This is what happens when I have a slight hangover. Plus, I was just punched in the jaw not too long ago."

"I understand. I'd hate to see you with a full hangover."

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to be around me if I did have one. If you think that boy was beat up enough, you could just about imagine what I would have done to him."

"I don't think I want to imagine," Takeru said. "Where were you headed?"

"I was on my way to some carnival going on at the south end of town. I figured if I was going to do anything, I might as well go there. Where were you headed?"

"I was looking for you after I had a talk with Ken. I saw Miyako on the way, and she told me you were headed in this direction. That's when I saw you and those idiots about to get into it."

"Looks like you showed up right on time then. Want to come with me to the carnival?"

"Sure, why not. I'm not doing anything else at the moment."

"Cool, let's go." They began walking towards the fair. Along the way, they talked about simple things like school and things in the past. Takeru found out that she had a fair knowledge of him back from high school, and he knew very little about her. Saki noticed that Takeru's eyes would occasionally drop below her collar bone, and everytime she would turn her head towards him, he would divert his eyes to hers. She decided to pick with him, so she clasped her hands behind her back and stretched, making her chest stick out. Takeru noticed, and quickly turned his head to the front. Saki stifled a giggle.

"Those were some mad punches you were throwing back there," Takeru said, trying to slay the naughty thoughts that were running through his head.

"Thanks. You weren't half bad yourself."

"Half bad? I was good."

"Dude, I've heard of monkeys doing Eskrima better than you. Don't get me wrong, you still whooped the guy, but you need to practice on your balance."

"How did you know that's what I was doing?"

"I took it for four years growing up. Me and Daisuke were in the same class."

"Wow, I only took it for one year."

"That's why you're so choppy. Is that the only style you know?"

"Well...yeah. I never bothered to take any other kind. What all do you know? It's obvious Eskrima is just one of your styles."

"You're right, I do know more than just that. I actually know no more than eleven different styles. That includes two forms of Eskrima, Tai Chi, Muay Thai, Shoot Boxing, Pencak Silat, Shotokan Karate, Mantis, both Northern and Southern, Wushu, and Tae Kwon Do. I'm a first degree black belt in three of them."

"Whoa," Takeru said, slightly surprised. "Remind me never to get into a fight with you." They shared a laugh.

----------------------

The carnival was packed with people, no doubt a good number were from the yacht. The game stands were filled with people spending their money trying to win a prize, the rides had long lines that created a lot of people traffic, and the consession stands were kept busy serving food and drinks. Saki and Takeru browsed around the area, sampling food and playing games. Takeru played the basketball game and, of course, won. He picked a small brown bear that was dressed like a train conductor complete with a red scarf.

"Why such a small prize when you can get a bigger one since you have the highest score?" Saki asked.

"This is easier to carry around," Takeru replied. He handed her the bear. "Here, it's yours."

"Eh?" Saki said, slightly taken aback.

"I want you to have it. Think of it as a way to express my apologies for earlier."

"Uh, okay. Thanks," Saki said, taking the bear. There was a chorus of "Aww"s from the audience.

"Aw, put a sock in it!" Saki yelled at them. She ignored the blush that crept up her cheeks. They walked around and played several more games, even a strength testing game.

"I'll take a crack at this one," Saki said, handing the bear to Takeru and taking up a mallet. She stood in front of the tallest tester, where the bell sat about twenty feet in the air. As she prepared to take her swing, the booth runner looked at her confusingly.

"Are you sure that's the one you want?" he asked, looking up at the bell.

"Yes, why are you asking?" Saki asked.

"Well...I just thought that since uh, you know..."

"Because I'm a woman I should be going for something shorter, is that right?"

"Well, uh..."

Saki grinned at him, then looked back at Takeru.

"You're be surprised," he said to the booth runner. Saki gave him that smile again, and he felt his body heat up, which served to confuse him.

'What's up with that?' he thought to himself. He was brought back to reality as Saki hauled the mallet backwards with a grunt, and powerfully slammed it onto the lever. The metal bell ringer flew up to the bell, hitting it with enough force to be heard in a ten meter radius, and fell back down onto the lever. The booth runner, and everyone that was around, looked at Saki with shock written on their faces.

"Well, that relieved some stress," Saki said.

"Too bad you couldn't break the bell," Takeru said jokingly.

"Maybe I should've," Saki said in the same manner. She turned towards the booth runner.

"Um, w-what prize would you-" he started.

"That one," Saki said, pointing to a stuffed, gold-colored animal that looked like a small piglet with bat ears. The booth runner handed her the prize, and she gave it to Takeru. Takeru stared at it, slightly shocked.

"Something wrong?" Saki asked.

"No, nothing's wrong," Takeru said. "I'm just wondering when they started making Digimon dolls. This looks just like my partner, Patamon."

"Well, you now have something to remember him by," Saki said as she and Takeru began walking again. As they walked, the sound of some upbeat music caught their ears. They followed the sounds to a crowd of people standing in a circle around an open area where a few people were dancing to some World Fusion music in the middle.

"What's going on over here?" Saki wondered. She and Takeru pushed their way to the front to see what was going on. There was a small band of people with various percussion instruments standing on the opposite side of the circle, playing tunes and singing to the beat. In front of them were several women in belly dancer clothes, dancing to the music and shaking their lower bodies.

"This looks like fun," Saki said as she began moving to the beat. Takeru started dancing a little as well. The beat suddenly changed to a fast paced Mexican Mambo song. The dancers grabbed a few of the audience members and dragged them into the circle to dance. Saki herself joined in the fun, shaking her body like a belly dancer. Takeru watched her with amusement. Saki grinned at him, then suddenly turned her back towards him, clasped her hands over her head, and started vibrating her legs, causing her butt to shake in front of him. The people around him started whooping and whistling, and Takeru nearly fell to the ground as the flashback of his little episode in the shower flew through his mind. Saki turned back to him, and had to stifle the laugh that dared to surface in her throat when she saw Takeru's face, which was pretty much expressionless, unless you count his bulging eyes as he tried to bring himself back to reality. Saki strode up to him, still twisting her body, and grabbed his hand, pulling him into the circle of dancers and started dancing with him despite his protests.

"Oh no, Saki. I-I can't..." Takeru stuttered, trying to back away, but Saki held on to him.

"Oh, come on! It's easy!" Saki said. "Just follow my lead." She placed her hands on his hips and started twisting him. Unfortunately, his whole body kept moving.

"You're so stiff," she said, placing her hands on his shoulders with a firm grip. "All you're doing is moving the lower half of your body, not your torso too. Watch my hips." She started twisting her waist. "Now you try." Takeru started twisting his waist as well, remembering not to move his torso.

"I think I got it," he said.

"You're a quick learner," Saki said. She started twisting again, turning her back to him and getting close to him. Takeru felt out of place doing this, especially since her backside kept moving over the front of his pants. Saki turned to him again, this time getting close enough to him to where their legs were intertwined and their pelvises almost touched. Takeru was starting to enjoy himself with this dance, and placed his hands behind Saki's back. Saki encircled her arms around his neck and brought herself closer to his body. They looked into each other's eyes as their twisting turned into the popular dance of grinding. Various couples started doing the same thing when they saw how much fun it looked. Takeru and Saki were somewhat unaware of their faces getting closer to each other. It wasn't until the music ended and people started clapping that they noticed. They quickly parted and started clapping with everyone else, feeling extremely awkward at that moment. They made their way through the crowd back onto the main strip and started walking again in silence. Takeru was silently berating himself for what he nearly did.

'Am I losing my mind?' he thought. 'I can't believe I almost did that!'

"What should we do now?" Saki asked, slight uneasiness in her voice.

"Um, ride the rides, I guess," Takeru replied, taking interest at the stuffed Patamon held in his hand.

"Okay. Which one should we get on first?"

"Well, I was thinking about-" He stopped dead in his tracks, his face stoic as he looked ahead.

"What's wrong?" Saki asked, looking at him. She looked in the direction he was looking, and froze. Not far from them were the two boys they beat up earlier, still battered and bruised, and walking towards them. The only thing different about them was the large group of boys they had behind them. One boy looked up and stopped, as did everyone else when he did.

"Saki," said Takeru. "Run. Now!" They took off running in the opposite direction from the crowd of boys.

"That's them right there!" shouted one of the beat up guys, and took off running after them, with the group following him.

Saki and Takeru weaved their way through the crowds, trying to keep as much distance from the group as possible. Unfortunately, the group was gaining on them little by little.

"We're going to have to split up!" said Takeru. "You go this way, I'll go this way. We'll meet up at that ferris wheel, okay?" He pointed to a tall ferris wheel looming in the distance.

"Gotcha!" Saki said as they split off in two directions.

The group stopped in their tracks. One of them looked to the left, then to the right. "You go this way, and we'll go this way," he said, pointing in the general directions. The group split into the directions they were going.

---------------------------

'This can't be happening,' Takeru thought, tucking the Patamon in his pocket as he made his way through the crowds of people. 'I was having a good time until this!' He skirted a pool table, narrowly missing an elbow as the pool player drew his stick back to strike the cue ball. The crowd of boys plowed into the pool player, knocking him and a few of them over. The pool player started hitting them with the cue stick while shouting curses and insults at them as they struggled to get up and pursue their chase, which gave Takeru a chance to put more distance between them. There was a large maze ahead of him that looked almost impossible to get through, so he made a beeline for it.

'I can lose them in here,' he thought, entering the maze.

"Hey! You can't cut in line!" the maze runner shouted, getting up from his seat. He turned to see the group of boys heading his way.

"Oh, no you don't!" he shouted, trying to block them from entering the maze.

"Get out of the way, old man!" one of them yelled, shoving him out of the way as the other boys entered the maze. One of them stayed behind and went around to the exit (which was on the same side as the entrance), and stood there in case Takeru were to come out that way. Takeru weaved his way through the maze, hitting a few dead ends and backtracking his way a few times. He could hear the crowd of boys looking for him.

"Well, no doubt I lost them in this maze," he said to himself. "The problem now is, how am I going to get out of here? I'm sure they have someone at the exit for when I come out." He looked up at the wall, where the edge was about a foot above his head.

'There's an idea,' he thought. 'but will it take me out of this maze?' He heard his pursuers gaining on him, and deduced that he didn't have time to test the theory. Quickly, he jumped up to the top, grabbing the edge and hauling himself over to the ground outside the maze just as a few of the boys turned the corner to where he was just standing. With a smile of triumph, he took off towards the ferris wheel.

--------------------------------

"I can't believe this!" Saki said to herself. "The one time I get to truly enjoy myself ends up in disaster!" She stuffed the bear in her pocket, hoping that it wouldn't burst a seam, and ran inside a large fun house, with her pursuers hot on her tail. She picked her way through some tangled bundle of stretched rubber wires quite effortlessly, where it would have taken anyone else a few trips to get through, which was exactly what the boys were doing. They managed to get out, and were now chasing her across a rickety bridge to a long platform full of spinning disks.

'See if you can do this,' Saki thought, not slowing her pace as she hopped onto the railing of the platform and started bounding from the wall to the rail, all the way down until she was off the platform. The boys didn't see her do this, and immediately started tripping on each other as they made attempts to cross the platform. Some got smart and tip-toed their way around the disks, and continued the chase. Saki ran upstairs to the second floor, to a corridor of hanging rubber columns with balloon spikes on them, slowly spinning and swaying at the same time.

"What's this supposed to be, a torture room for kids?" she said to herself. She turned her head towards the stairs as she heard the boys stumbling and fussing their way up the stairs.

"No time to ponder that thought now!" she said as she started weaving through the columns. The boys followed her, violently shoving anyone or anything out of their way. One guy in the lead pushed aside two spike columns, and was met by a third one swinging towards him and an ungainly speed, knocking him towards the ground and tripping up the other boys.

"Yes!" Saki exclaimed as she made her way out of the maze. At the end of the maze was a large slide that had humps in it at set intervals. The guy at the top of the slide had a bunch of blankets in his arms, and he handed her one.

"Thanks," she said, taking the blanket and laying it out. She quickly got on it, and went down the slide, hitting the bumps that took her a few inches off the slide with each bounce, making her squeal with delight. She reached tho bottom and gave the blanket to the blanket collector at the exit, and went around to the entrance to the fun house again. She looked up at where she left the boys. They were still struggling to get out of the maze, and one boy, which happened to be the one she beat up, was standing behind the nylon fence, glaring down at her angrily and breathing heavily. Saki smiled at him, and took off running again towards the ferris wheel as the boy threw a tantrum.

-------------------

Takeru got to the ferris wheel just as Saki showed up. "You're okay," he said, out of breath.

"You too," she said in the same manner.

"Hey, are you two getting on, or what?" asked the guy that ran the ride. Saki and Takeru looked at each other.

"I guess we are," Takeru said. He held the door open for Saki and she stepped inside. He followed her and closed the door, sitting in the seat across from her as the manager started the ride. The ferris wheel slowly started to move. Takeru and Saki looked out of the tinted windows down at the crowds below. Saki tapped him on the shoulder and pointed down. Moving through the crowds were a few of the boys, still looking for them. They seemed to be dispersed.

"They're not going to give up, are they?" Saki asked.

"They will, eventually," Takeru said, leaning back in his seat. "How'd you lose your group?"

"In some weird fun house. You?"

"In a maze that was quite a-maze-ing."

Saki looked at him with a small grin, shaking her head. She turned to look out the other window, watching the setting sun.

"I love a good sunset," she said. "What about you?"

"They're okay," Takeru said, glancing out the window. He turned his head towards her and was about to say something, but stopped as he looked at her. In the setting sun, he noticed how beautiful she looked. The sweat glistening off of her neck added more to the effect, and her brown eyes, which to him seemed to be an almond color, made him feel as if he could get lost in them by just looking at them. Her lips were full and red, despite the lack of make-up, though she looked just as beautiful without it. He found himself longing to kiss those lips as his eyes traveled lower to her chest, where he made out the shapely roundness of her breasts through her red skin shirt. Saki turned her eyes to him, watching him as he checked out her body. She smiled a little, and turned her head fully to him.

"Like what you see?" she asked, startling him. He jerked his head up, turning slightly red from the embarrassment of being caught.

"Oh jeez! I-I'm so sorry! I-I didn't-" he stuttered. Saki giggled at him as he turned even more red.

"Why must boys be so embarrassed when they check a girl out?" she asked, still giggling.

"Well, it's a guy thing," he said, looking away. "Wouldn't you be embarrassed if you were caught eyeballing some guy?"

"No. I've checked you out several times and was caught, still haven't been embarrassed."

"Have you ever been into any other guys besides me?" he asked, looking at her again.

"As far as interest goes, there have been plenty out there, including Daisuke, believe it or not. But as for fatal attraction, just you."

"Fatal attraction?"

"Don't ask."

"...Okay. Why me in the first place?"

Saki thought about it for a bit. "I don't know," she said. "There's just something about you that I find intriguing, you know?"

"Naw."

Saki made a face at him. "Look, there's a lot about you that I like, okay? Daisuke's told me a lot about you in the past, and I've checked you out for myself."

"What'd he say? That I was always trying to steal Hikari from him?"

Saki's face dropped. "No, crazy," she said. "He talked about how you are a good friend, and how you never gave up your hope for things, even in the face of danger. He told me that he used you as a stronghold, and that you were the driving force behind his courage, and his willingness to actually cope with you, even though the communication was through your fists."

Takeru stared at her. "He actually said that?"

Saki nodded. "He said some other things I can't remember, but that's the part that stuck in my head. From there, I started finding out more about you, how it was you and Angemon who defeated some Devimon character, and how good you were in basketball. I've been trying to get with you ever since, but things just kept happening."

"Wow," Takeru said. "I never knew that."

"Well, you know now, don't you?" Saki said sarcastically, causing them to laugh. Takeru looked at the side of her face where she was hit earlier and furrowed his eyebrows in confusion.

"What?" Saki asked, touching her face.

"Let me see your face," he said, placing his finger gently under her chin and turning her head so he could see the side of her face.

"What's wrong?"

"Weird. The bruise on your face is gone, completely healed."

"What were you expecting?"

"Well, I was expecting some left over mark, a yellow-greenish blemish or something." He looked over her face again.

"What can I say, I heal fast," Saki said, turning her face back to the front. Takeru didn't remove his finger from under her chin, and just looked in her eyes, not saying anything. Saki stared back into his, not knowing what to think. Before either of them knew it, they were locked in a passionate kiss. Takeru placed his hands behind her back, and Saki placed her hands behind his head, holding him there. They weren't sure how long they kissed for, nor did they pay any attention, but the car suddenly jerked to a stop, interrupting them. They backed away slowly, looking into each other's eyes with passion. Suddenly, they realized what they were doing and jumped back with a gasp. The door opened, and the manager looked at them.

"Alright, you two lovebirds. Time to go," he said. Takeru looked at him, then back at Saki. She sat there for a second, then stepped out of the car, followed by Takeru.

"Takeru, I-" Saki started, but was cut off by Takeru.

"Let's just get back to the boat," he said, his eyes downcast. He turned to leave, and Saki followed him, both of them falling into silence the whole way back to the ship.

-------------------------

Takeru was barely able to get any sleep. When he and Saki arrived back at the yacht, it was already nightfall, and most of the people were gone to bed. They quickly said their goodbyes, though they wanted to say more, and went to their rooms. Takeru quickly took a shower, changed into his sleeping clothes- a pair of stretchy black shorts and a baggy green shirt- and hopped into bed. Unfortunately, sleep eluded him completely. The day's events kept running through his mind, in particular, the kiss he and Saki shared. He groaned as he thought about it, turning onto his side and closing his eyes, trying hard to get some rest, and failing miserably. He opened his eyes and turned back onto his back.

'What's wrong with me?' he thought. 'I'm in love with Hikari, aren't I? What am I doing kissing other women? Stupid hormones!' Since he wouldn't be able to go to sleep anytime soon, he decided to get out of bed and take a walk around. He slipped on his shoes, grabbed his keys, and walked out the door, locking it behind him.

'I guess I'll go to the lounge and watch a movie,' he thought, heading towards the stairs. 'Maybe something boring. That'll probably put me to sleep.' As soon as he entered the lounge, he stopped dead in his tracks as he saw Saki there, sprawled out on the couch in her jammies and wrapped up in a blanket, watching some music videos. Saki looked over at him and froze. Neither of them moved for a second. Finally, Takeru broke the ice.

"Couldn't sleep?" he asked, trying to appear as casual as possible while moving over to the couch. Saki sat up a little to give him room as he sat down.

"I had a nightmare," she said. "You?"

"I just couldn't sleep." They both sat in silence for a few seconds, watching the videos.

"What was your nightmare about?" Takeru asked.

"Shadows," she said bluntly. "I was hit with a yellow scarf by a shadow with yellow eyes plastered to a wall."

"That's...a little weird."

"Tell me about it. It's weird now, but once you're dreaming it, it's pretty scary. The weirdest part is this is the second time I had the dream. The first time was when I was seven."

"How can you have the same dream twice?"

"Beats me. There are some dreams that I wish I could have about three or four times."

"I probably shouldn't ask what they are."

"Trust me, you wouldn't want to know either." They fell into silence again for a few minutes.

"Saki, about today-" Takeru started before being cut off by Saki.

"No need to explain, Takeru. It was mostly my fault."

"I was the one who led you into it though."

"I could have stopped you, but I didn't want to, because it was what I wanted."

"That's the problem," he said, looking at her. "I wanted it too."

"How is it a problem?"

"Because I'm supposed to be in love with Hikari. We're supposed to be getting married soon. I can't be doing this."

"And you're telling me this because..."

"Because I'm starting to have feelings for you," he said, turning his body towards her.

"No surprise there," Saki said, sitting up a bit straighter.

"What do you mean?"

"Takeru, you know I've always had feelings for you. But I wouldn't force myself on you to make my presence known. I want you to discover me on your own without me pressuring you. You're only feeling this way because you see a pretty face, that's all."

"No it isn't actually. It's true that I've met you for the first time two days ago, but it feels like I've known you my entire life. For some reason, you make me feel complete when I'm around you. When I saw you that morning you hit Daisuke, I felt attatched to you. I try to deny it, but I just can't." He sighed, slumping into the seat. "This wouldn't have happened if you hadn't convinced me to go to the fair with you today."

"Takeru, that was purely your choice alone. I didn't force anything upon you. You could have said no and went about your way, even if you didn't have anything else to do. All I did was just merely offer up the decision. Granted I was happy that you said you would come with me, but I could have cared less if you were to say no and leave. Now that brings up a question. How much do you really love Hikari?"

Takeru looked at her. "What do you mean?"

"You know what I mean, Takeru. What I should ask is are you marrying her for love, or for something else? As long as you've been together, have you ever felt anything between the two of you beyond simple infatuation, or was it because of the fact at how long you've known each other?"

Takeru didn't know how to answer that. He opened his mouth to say something, but didn't as he thought about what she just said.

"The question you have to ask yourself Takeru," Saki went on. "is what reason are you marrying her for? Whatever reason it is, is it for the right, or the wrong one? Listen, I'm going to be very blunt with you, and I don't care if you get mad at me or not, so just pay attention. If you really loved Hikari, you wouldn't have taken a second glance at me that day. If you really loved her, you would have said no when I invited you to come with me to the fair today. If you really loved her...you wouldn't be here with me right now."

Takeru looked at her. "You really mean that?"

"All you have to do is get up, and walk right out that door. You don't even have to look back at me." She could feel the tears welling up in her eyes as she spoke, but she pushed them back.

"What if I don't want to leave?"

"Then if I were to jeopardize your relationship with Hikari, I'll leave." She got up, taking her blanket with her and started to leave. As she passed by Takeru, he made a grab for her arm as he stood up, and spun her around into a kiss. He broke it and looked into her eyes.

"But that's not what you want, is it?" he asked her.

"No," she said. "I want you. All of you."

"And have me, you shall," he said, kissing her again.

"But what about Hikari?" Saki whispered between kisses. They stopped and rested their foreheads against each other.

"It'll be dealt with when the time comes," he whispered back to her. "I want to be with you, Saki. I'm not holding back any longer."

"Oh, Takeru!" Saki said, pressing her lips against his again as her tears flowed down her face. "I love you so much!" She pushed him down on the couch and got on top of him, still kissing him. He moved his hands down to her butt and began massaging her, causing her to moan.

"Takeru, I want you now!" she whispered in his ear, grinding her pelvis on his.

"Not here," he whispered. "My room."

------------------------

Later that night, Takeru held a sleeping Saki in his arms. Neither one of them bothered to put any clothes back on, since they wanted to enjoy the feel of each other's bodies next to each other. Takeru looked up at the ceiling, consumed in his thoughts.

'I hope I'm not making a mistake here,' he thought. 'How am I going to explain this to everyone when they find out? They'll probably freak, and Hikari's brother will probably try to kill me for breaking his sister's heart.'

"Are you still awake?" Saki asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

"Yeah. How'd you know?"

Saki looked up at him. "Because you haven't moved an inch since we went to bed. What's on your mind?"

"Just trying to piece together the events on what happened in these past few days. I've met you for the first time two days ago, and now we're in bed together. It kills that you know more about me, and I know so little about you. Wish I knew of you earlier in the years."

"It happens," Saki said, sitting up a little straighter. "You'll hae plenty of time to know more about me. You're also wondering what you'll tell everyone else, especially Hikari, right?"

"Yeah. I'm trying to figure out the best way to tell her."

"I suggest we wait until we're all back together at the college. More privacy there. Until then, we'll just have to act as if nothing's going on between us just to save face in front of other people."

"It'll be weird not being able to hold you."

"Same here. We might as well get all the holding we can right now. No telling when they will be found." She snuggled closer to him. "Goodnight, love."

"Goodnight, lady."

---------------------------------------

I rushed the ending since I took entirely too long on this chapter. It's going to be pretty hard writing part two of this thing.


	7. Red Shoe Diaries part 2

Daisuke and Hikari. Same day, different story. Nuff said.

Disclaimer: Do I really have to say anything? You should know I don't own anything.

_"Now, what am I supposed to do_

_When I want you in my world?_

_How can I want you for myself_

_When I'm already someone's girl?"_

_-Next Lifetime, Erykah Badu_

**Chapter Seven: Red Shoe Diaries Part 2**

Hikari woke up to a chilly surrounding, despite having a blanket wrapped around her. She slowly opened one eye and looked at the dying embers of the fire, which had a faint glow to it. She watched it for a few seconds, then opened her other eye as she turned on her back, staring at the dark ceiling.

'Must still be some time before dawn,' she thought, noticing the murkiness around her. She looked to the side to see if Daisuke was still asleep. Instead of Daisuke's body, three pieces of fruit- two apples and a banana -were sitting on top of the bag where his head should have been.

'Where did he go this time?' Hikari thought, sitting up. 'At least he left me some food. I am a bit hungry after all. I would like to know where he got it, though.' She decided to worry about it later, for her stomach was making the decision for her. She took the apple, wiped it off on her shirt, and bit into it.

'Wow, this is delicious!' she thought, taking another bite. She finished off the apples and the banana, which was just as good. Grabbing her cane behind her, she slowly stood up.

'At least my ankle's getting a bit better,' she thought, stomping it on the ground lightly a few times. She stretched the kinks out of her back, arms, and neck. 'Now to find Daisuke.' She hobbled towards the entrance, noticing the reeds that were blocking the entrance were cut away. She figured Daisuke did it with his pocket knife. Stopping at the entrance of the cave, she glanced around. It was still dark out, with a full moon sitting high in the sky and shining onto the land.

'Blue moon,' she thought. 'Now I just hope a werewolf doesn't come out of nowhere.' She looked ahead of her, and almost forgot to exhale. There was Daisuke with his shirt off, and the light of the moon shining on his sweaty, muscular form as he slowly went through the routines of Eagle Claw Wing Chun. She watched as he balanced himself on one bent leg with the other one crossed in front of it, and his arms stretched behind him like the wings of a bird. He slowly turned in one direction, placing his crossed leg on the ground, and slowly stood up. He looked so beautiful, that Hikari didn't realize she was staring at him. It wasn't until he turned to look at her that she broke out of her trance. She felt her body heat up from embarrassment of being caught, and thought about turning away, but she couldn't. Daisuke's eyebrows furrowed slightly, and he walked over to get his shirt off the ground and slipped it on.

"You okay?" he asked Hikari, walking up to her.

"I couldn't sleep," she said, not knowing what else to say since she was still trying to get the image of his body out of her mind.

"I can see that," he said sarcastically.

Hikari ignored his sarcasm. "Why are you up?" she asked.

"Same thing." There was an awkward silence between them.

"What were you doing just now?" Hikari asked.

"I was practicing Wing Chun," Daisuke replied. Another silence.

"Did you eat the food that was on the bag?" Daisuke asked.

"Y-yes, thank you," Hikari said, stuttering a little, though she couldn't understand why. "Where'd you find it?"

"On the way back from the ship yesterday I noticed a group of trees that had fruit on it. My stomach woke me up anyway, so I went and found them again."

"I wish you would have said something yesterday. We could have picked them."

"Wouldn't have mattered. They're too high for you to reach, and you can't climb a tree at the moment. Plus I tend to think a bit irrational when I'm unduly ticked off. Sorry."

"It's okay, I understand. My ankle's getting better by the way."

"Really?" He stooped down to take a good look at it, and paused. "I'd probably be able to see it in better light, won't I?"

"That would probably be best."

Daisuke stood back up, and they walked back into the cave.

"As you can see, our source of light died out," Hikari said, referring to the fire.

"So I noticed," Daisuke said, brushing the burnt debris out of the circle of rocks and replacing them with fresh ones. He fished around inside the bag for the matches and, finding them, created the fire once again. They sat down on the blanket and Daisuke took off her ankle brace to examine her ankle.

"Looks like the swelling went down some," he said. "The normal color of your foot is starting to come back too." He replaced the brace back onto her foot and gently set it down. "See? All you did was twist it, nothing too big. It should be well enough by tomorrow perhaps. Why don't you try to get some more sleep? Dawn's not for another six hours."

"I would, but I think I cramped my shoulder," she said, rubbing at it. "Must have slept on a rock."

"Well, we are quite literally caught between a rock and a hard place. Let me take a look at it." He moved behind her and sat with his legs on either side of her so that she was sitting between his legs. "Where does it hurt?"

"Right here," she said, pointing at the top of her left shoulder. Daisuke placed his hands there and started rubbing gently. Hikari marveled at how good his hands felt. She relaxed a bit more and leaned back a little.

"My, you give good massages," she said.

"Thanks," Daisuke said. "I used to rub my mom's back a lot, so I had a lot of practice."

"Well, it's certainly paying off," she said, closing her eyes. She began to moan a little as a light smile crept onto her face. Daisuke resisted the urge to kiss her neck, since she was leaning back far enough to where it was close to his face, and the air from his nose was falling on it. Her moans weren't helping any. He was glad that she didn't scoot her lower back against him, otherwise she would have felt something poking her, and he wasn't looking for a slap. He took his right hand and started rubbing her right shoulder, causing her to let out a startled, but pleased gasp.

"Mmm...go lower," she moaned. Daisuke complied and placed his hands on her rib cage, being careful not to touch her breasts, and used his thumbs to rub her shoulder blades and the middle of her back.

"How's your shoulder now?" Daisuke asked.

"My shoulder's better now, but please don't stop," Hikari replied, slightly slurred. Her head drooped a little, but then she shot back up, surprising Daisuke a little.

"You okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. You nearly put me to sleep," she said, turning to him. Suddenly, Daisuke grabbed the sides of her face and kissed her forcefully on the lips. Hikari was shocked for a second, but then regained control of herself and tried to force Daisuke off of her. Daisuke stopped kissing her and looked at her square in the eyes while still holding her.

"What are you doing?!" Hikari cried, trying to pry Daisuke's hands off of her face.

"This is what you wanted, right?" he asked venomously.

"What are you talking about?"

"Don't try to act oblivious now, Hikari. Don't think I haven't noticed your subtle advances throughout the day. I even remember this-" he placed his hand on her lower back and rubbed gently, causing her to let out a startled gasp and loosen her grip on his arm. "-don't think I've forgotten about that. If I'm not mistaken, that's your hot spot, isn't it?"

Hikari couldn't hide her lustful expression. The way Daisuke was talking to her and rubbing her spot was making her want to do things to him that she never thought about before.

"H-how'd you..." she started. Daisuke put a finger to her lips.

"Because I know you, Hikari," he said. "I know you"

Hikari's eyes shot open and she looked at her surroundings. Daisuke was no longer on top of her, and her clothes weren't off, neither were her shorts ripped. In fact, she began wondering what her legs were doing in the air, but then felt something sticky between her legs. She looked down to see her shorts up to her knees, and put two and two together. A thousand questions ran through her head at that moment.

'When did I start doing this?' she thought. 'What if Daisuke saw? Oh, man I hope he didn't!' She got her answer when Daisuke came running into the cave.

"Hikari!" he said. "Are you okay? I heard..." He stopped short when he saw the position she was in, and quickly turned away, beet red in the face. Hikari immediately put her legs down, pulled up her shorts and sat up. She just stared at Daisuke's back, trying to bring herself back to reality.

"I-I'm sorry," he said, trying hard not to laugh after seeing her in the position she was in. "I heard you scream, and I thought something happened. I'll go back outside now-"

"Daisuke," Hikari said sharply, stopping him. He kept his back towards her. "What happened?" she asked.

"With?"

"Don't start, Daisuke. You know what I'm talking about."

He looked at her over his shoulder. "Honestly lady, I have no idea what you're talking-"

"Daisuke, did you try to have sex with me or not?!" she cried. Daisuke turned towards her in shock.

"What are you talking about?" he asked. "Are you sure you're alright?"

"Just answer my question!"

"No, I didn't!" he said sternly, clearly annoyed with her attitude. "Good grief, what's your problem? Were you having a dream, or a nightmare?"

"I'm just trying to find out what happened, that's all."

"With what? All I know is that I was rubbing your shoulders, and you suddenly fell asleep, so I laid you down on the blanket and left. A few minutes later I heard you screaming, and I came running. And now here you are, accusing me of being the product of some wet dream you had!"

Hikari looked at him with a mild expression on her face, then lowered her head solemnly.

"I'm sorry for yelling at you, but I'm getting tired of that surly attitude that you have towards me," he said.

"No, Daisuke. I apologize," she said, looking at him. "I didn't mean to accuse you of anything. I was just a little leery about the dream, that's all. I realize that I've been treating you unfair too, so you had every right to get mad at me."

"I hate getting mad," he said. "Especially at you. So please do me a favor and not make me do it again?"

Hikari nodded her head. "I promise," she said. She scooted over on the blanket, and patted the spot next to her. "Come on, let's make a second attempt to get some sleep."

"Not with that on there," he said, pointing to the wet spot where Hikari had her orgasm. "I don't think it's safe."

"Shut up, Daisuke! I don't have cooties or anything like that!"

"I'm just joking," he laughed as he made his way over to the blanket and settled down under it. He turned his back to Hikari and faced the fire.

"See you later in the morning, Hikari," Daisuke said.

"You too," she said. Within moments, Daisuke was already sleep. Hikari was still awake, though, thinking about her dream.

'How did that even happen?' she thought. 'Why did I have a wet dream about Daisuke? I wish I knew what was going on' She pondered on these thoughts until she fell asleep.

Later that afternoon, Hikari woke up to find Daisuke gone...yet again.

"Is he out doing some more training?" she asked herself. She got off the ground, noticing the pain in her foot had dulled some more to where she could walk on it without the use of a cane, but still had to hobble. She picked up her cane off the ground in case she needed it, and walked towards the entrance.

'How could he even joke about sleeping in that spot like that?' she thought, looking around outside and not seeing Daisuke. She stepped outside, welcoming the sunlight as it warmed her skin. 'I know if I were him, I'd be totally grossed out. I guess I'm thinking that way because I'm a female. At any rate, I would love to take a shower right now. I'm sure I probably stink like nothing else, not to mention I couldn't clean my hand properly without wiping it on my clothes. So just where is he anyway?' A rustle in the trees caught her attention. She snapped up her cane, holding it up like a baseball bat.

"Daisuke?" she asked nervously.

"Yeah, it's me," Daisuke said, emerging from the trees, looking a bit cleaner than he did last night. "I see you have a better weapon of choice, as well."

Hikari rolled her eyes at him as she lowered her cane. "Where'd you go this time?" she asked.

"I went looking around a bit more, and found something of interest."

"What?"

"A hot spring, which is pretty ironic considering that we're probably nowhere near any kind of underwater volcano. We might be right above one. If so, then it must be quite low. The water is at a good temperature to bathe in."

"I take it that you were just in there?"

"Yep. Which is another reason I came to get you. I figured you could use a nice, warm bath right now."

"You really think so?" she said sarcastically. Daisuke just grinned.

"Come on," he said. Hikari followed him back into the woods.

"You might have figured this out, but there are animals on this island," Daisuke said. "I don't know how many, or what kind are out there, but I bet some of them are dangerous."

"That might be what was on the ship, which would account for all of those cages," Hikari said.

"And for the rotting corpse as well. So far, though, all I've seen was a deer." They hiked up the hill, which Hikari had a little trouble going up, and had to use her cane.

"I'm glad I brought this thing," she said.

"Yeah, really. There's the forest glade I told you about eariler." They stopped to examine the view. For Hikari, she had never seen anything like it. She let out a small whistle as she looked down at the water.

"How far down does it go?" she asked.

"Fifty, maybe a hundred miles deep. I really don't know."

"That's pretty deep. So, where's this spring you were talking about?"

"Follow me," he said, making his way towards the bushes that divided the glade from the spring. They pushed through the bushes carefully so as to not get snagged on anything. Along the way, Hikari noticed that the temperature was rising with each step.

"I thought you said it wasn't that hot?" she asked, tugging at her collar.

"It isn't," Daisuke said, not looking back at her. "That's just the steam rising off the ground." They pushed past the final bush and stood before the spring. The water was clear, and the surface was bubbling a little. Hikari dipped her toe into the water to test the temprature.

"That's hot!" she cried, withdrawing her foot quickly.

"I thought women liked hot water," Daisuke said. "Besides, you might not have much choice in the matter. Once you get in, it'll get better. Now, if you'll excuse me." He turned to leave.

"Where are you going?!" Hikari asked incredulously, turning towards him. Daisuke turned back to her.

"What, you want me to stick around and watch you take a bath? I'm sure you don't need a babysitter, and I _know_ you don't want me anywhere near you. Not that I would want to be anyway."

Hikari was slightly disappointed at that statement. Some small part of her wanted him around, not just for protection, but she felt comfortable around him. But on the other hand, the memory of the wet dream she had about him was coming back and making her aroused, and she wasn't too comfortable with people watching her beat off. Not even Takeru was allowed to watch.

"Okay," she said. "But where are you going, and how do I know you won't be just hiding in the bushes waiting for me to take off my clothes?"

Daisuke frowned at her. "I would appreciate it if you wouldn't label me as that of a low-born."

"Huh?"

"I'm not a pervert. I'm going back to the ship to explore it a bit more. You'll be okay on the way back to the cave by yourself." He turned and walked off, not waiting for Hikari's retort. In a few seconds, he was gone, disappearing in the bushes. Hikari stood there for a second, trying to figure out what just happened.

"Daisuke?" she called, after a few seconds. No answer. She hobbled over to the bushes and pushed them aside, expecting to see Daisuke behind them with his pants down, ready to go to town as she bathed, but no one was there.

"I guess he really did leave," she said, making her way back to the spring and started taking off her clothes and the foot brace.

Daisuke found his way back to the ship, and was soon standing in front of the gaping hole.

"This place seems a lot more creepier than yesterday," he said to himself. "Almost makes me not want to go in. I guess it's because I'm alone, this time." He steeled his nerves and went inside. He wasted no time in moving from the boiler room and through the cage room to the stairs leading up to the ship's bridge.

"There really isn't much to explore here," he said, entering into the ship's bridge and looking around. His eyes settled on the morse code machine. At length, he decided to check it out.

'Wish they would have taught us this in survival class,' he thought, looking it over. 'I really don't know if this thing works. It's better than nothing, though.' He began searching around the place, looking for a booklet or something that would help him. At last, he found a worn, tattered handbook sitting on the floor behind a chair.

"Hello, what's this?" he asked himself, picking up the book. He opened it up to the first page and noticed a series of dots and lines running across the page with letters after each of them.

"This is it!" he exclaimed. He brought the book back over to the machine.

"They must tell how to use it in the front," he said, flipping to the beginning of the book. No instructions.

"Okay, what about the back?" he turned to the back of the book. Still no instructions.

"What kind of book wouldn't have any instructions in it?" he said to himself, thumbing through the book. "Guess I'll just have to wing it." He turned the pages until he found the letter S.

'I guess S.O.S could be a start,' he thought. He turned the machine on, placed the headphones on his head and tapped the button the number of times indicated for the letter S. He turned the pages to the letter O and tapped it in, the back to S.

"They must be able to trace this back to its source," he said. He decided to tap in the code a few more times for good measure. After he was done with everything, he hastily made his way off the ship. For some reason, he was getting creeped out on the derelict. Something about it didn't seem right, neither did the atmosphere around him.

"Something's wrong," he said as he left the ship. "I get the feeling something's about to happen, and it won't be good." His thoughts turned to Hikari, wondering if she made it back to the cave safely.

"I'm sure she made it okay," he tried to assure himself, but the uneasiness wouldn't leave him. He walked briskly across the beach, spotting the fruit trees along the way.

"I'll get them later," he said, picking up his pace. "Please be safe, Hikari..."

"That was something I needed," Hikari said as she made her way down the hill leading to the forest. "I'll have to thank Daisuke later for showing it to me." Her progress down hill was slow, despite the fact that the heat from the spring calmed her foot dramatically; she didn't want to take any chances. She reached the bottom of the hill and started walking through the forest. A slight rustle to her right caught her attention, and she whirled towards it, cane in her hand.

"Daisuke, that's not you again, is it?" she asked, lowering the cane a bit. No answer.

"Daisuke?" Still nothing. Hikari started getting a little spooked, and she raised her cane back into the air.

"Daisuke, you'd b-better not be trying t-to trick me!" she stammered, backing up and stopping against a tree. She gasped when she hit it, and instinctively looked behind her. Another rustle sounded, this one much closer and louder than the last one. Hikari peered ahead through the trees towards the sound's source. Her heart jumped in her throat when she saw a movement in the distance, ambling her way.

"Da..." she tried to say, but she only produced air. The figure ambled a bit closer, and she could see thick, brown fur. Her blood froze to ice when she figured out what it was: A bear. But not just any old bear. As it came more into view, Hikari noted that it was quite large, and the name Kodiak bear, one of the largest bears in the bear family, came to her mind. Of course, Hikari didn't register that. All she knew was that there was an extremely large bear headed her way. The bear must have been a bit shocked too to find a human on its territory, for when it came into plain view and saw Hikari, it let out a roar that could have shaken the heavens. Hikari, forgetting what to do when approached by a bear, screamed her head off and ran, with the bear giving chase. Lucky for her, she had a pretty good head start, but she was having slight trouble running because of her foot, and she ended up hopping more than she ran.

"SOMEONE HELP ME!!!" she screamed. "DAISUKE!!!"

Meanwhile, Daisuke reached the cave, with the hopes of finding Hikari inside, waiting for him.

'Please be inside,' he thought as he approached the cave. He had just barely got to the entrance when he heard someone screaming from inside the forest. And since him and Hikari were the only two humans on the island, he had a pretty good idea of who it was.

"Hikari?" He took off for the woods.

'Why do bad things always happen to me?!' Hikari thought as she ran/hopped away from the bellowing bear. She looked behind her and saw that the bear was gaining on her, and she screamed even more. Unfortunately, when she turned back around, her foot caught the underside of a tree root, sending her sprawling forward down a small hill and stopping at a tree. She looked up to see the bear bearing down upon her, mouth wide open, claws outstretched, ready to maul her to death. Hikari snapped her cane up in front of her in hopes of deflecting the blow, and squeezed her eyes shut, praying that it would be over quickly.

"DAISUKE!!!"

The bear's bellowing was interrupted by something plowing into it, which sent it and its attacker sprawling across the ground. Hikari looked up when she heard the noise and noticed the bear wasn't over her anymore. The sounds of fighting caught her attention, and she looked towards the source to see the bear fighting what looked to be a...human? Why would a human be fighting a bear? It couldn't have been Daisuke, because the last time she checked, he wasn't the size that this human was, even though the shirt and the pants looked the same despite having been ripped almost to shreds. As the man wrestled with the bear, she noted that his shoulders were a lot broader, his chest more wider, and his muscles bulged out from under his ripped shirt. She caught a glimpse of his face, and was dumbstruck to find out that it _was_ Daisuke, but there was something different about him. His eyes had a hard gleam to his eyes, his jaw was set in a fearsome scowl, and she could have sworn he grew fangs where his canine teeth should have been, and his goggles were missing.

"Daisuke?" she asked, dumbfounded. The bear gave him a mighty swat to the chest, sending him sprawling towards Hikari. He landed in front of her with a thud, surprising her. When he fell, Hikari had noticed the flesh wound the bear had gave him. Any normal man would have a gaping hole from a blow like that, but Daisuke was beyond human standards now. She was about to reach down and help him when he shot back up with a kip up, his pocket knife already in his hand. The bear came galloping at the two. Daisuke flipped open his knife and ran towards the bear, meeting it head on and driving the knife into its throat. The blade went in deep, but didn't penetrate anything vital. He broke the hilt off the knife so the blade would stay in there. The bear staggered back a short distance, blood dripping from its throat, and barely had time to react when Daisuke slammed his knee into the bear's chin, breaking a few teeth.

Quicker than Daisuke thought possible, the bear recovered and head butted him in the stomach, pushing him back a little, then sinking its teeth into his exposed leg. Daisuke didn't let out so much as a yelp. He simply wrapped his arms around the bear's head and repeatedly kneed it in the throat with his free leg until the bear let go, then hefted it up to where its stomach ws exposed, and tackled it to the ground. They started trading blows with each other; Daisuke pummeled the bear's face with his fists and it drew several long, deep scratches across his back with its massive claws. Finally, the bear caught Daisuke in the side of his neck, knocking him off and onto the ground. Daisuke quickly got up and fell into an offensive stance. His shirt was ripped to shreds, his stomach and back was riddled with scars and claw marks, and blood was flowing from them. His leg where the bear bit him was bleeding as well, and his face was battered and bruised. Yet he wasn't going to fall, even though his breathing had become ragged. The bear got up too, bellowing at him despite having a blade stuck in its throat and blood pouring out from it and its mouth where dozens of teeth were missing. Two or three of them from the bottom were protruding through its top lip, and its left eye was swelling shut. They circled each other, trying to find an opening. Finally, in a desparate attack the bear lunged at Daisuke, rearing up on its hind legs as it did. Daisuke, not taking any chances, dashed towards him with his arm stretched out to the side and clotheslined it in the throat so hard that the bear flipped head-over-heels in the air. Before the bear had a chance to land, Daisuke grabbed it by one hind leg and began twirling it around like the hammer throw in the olympics, gaining momentum until with one final yell, he released the bear. The bear went flying through the trees, hitting many of them and breaking a few, until it was stopped between two of them, wedged between the gap. And because it was thrown so fast, its spinal cord was pulled apart and twisted to the point where no living mortal could achieve that type of flexibility. So there it hung, between the trees with its mouth hanging loosely open and its tongue hanging out, never to move again.

Hikari stared at Daisuke, who still had his back towards her. His torso moved up and down with his hard breathing, and his shoulders seemed to shrink. He turned his head towards her, the gleam in his eyes gone.

"You okay?" he asked her. Hikari nodded slowly, still dumbfounded. He gave her a weary smile, then his whole body seemed to shrink as he passed out onto the forest floor face first. Hikari was at his side in a flash. She turned him over and checked his pulse.

'Good, he's still alive,' she thought. She did her best to pick him up and carry him back to the cave. 'Don't worry Daisuke. I'll help you just like you've helped me all this time.'

Much later, back in the cave, Daisuke was all bandaged up and sleeping on the blanket. Hikari managed to create another fire, and was now sitting by it with her knees drawn to her chest, watching Daisuke as he slept. In all the times they had been around each other, she had never known Daisuke to do something like that. It was as if he was someone else. It actually scared her to see him fight like that. By all accounts, he should be dead right now.

'He's changed,' she thought as she watched him. He looked so peaceful, despite the bandages wrapped around him. She wanted to make sure he wasn't dead, so she watched for the rise and fall of his chest. She was glad when she saw it, rising and falling slowly as he breathed. 'He really isn't the same Daisuke I used to know, or thought I knew.' She started thinking on the recent things that have happened. What if he wasn't there to save her from the bear? She would certainly be dead, that's for sure. To her, this gave further evidence that he still loved her, not for the simple fact that he fought the bear, but he literally and willingly put his life on the line for her. No one, not even Takeru, had ever done anything like that for her, even when they were in the digital world. Granted, there was the time when Takeru rescued her from the Dark Ocean, but after that, what then? But then again, the Dark Ocean wasn't really a life or death situation. That was more of a brainwashing into becoming something she didn't want or need. And she didn't have to see anyone in the condition that Daisuke was in now.

'This still doesn't explain why Takeru wants to marry me,' she thought. 'It doesn't explain why I accepted. Maybe Daisuke was right, and I jumped the gun.' She looked up at the sound of Daisuke groaning.

"Um...ow?" Daisuke said, groggily. Hikari got up and made her way to his side. He opened his eyes and focued on her.

"Are you okay?" she asked, sitting beside him.

"Aside from the fact that my whole body hurts, I have a splitting headache, and I'm very hungry, I'm just fine. What about you?"

"I'm okay."

"That's goo- AAH!" he yelped as he tried to sit up, but had to lay back down again as pain coarsed through his body.

"Take it easy, you're hurt badly," Hikari said, helping him to lie down again.

"Tell me something I don't know," he said. "If anything, I should be dead."

"Don't say that, Daisuke."

"Just because I said it doesn't necesarily mean that I mean it."

"From the abundance of the heart..." Hikari muttered.

"Huh?"

"Nothing." She reached into the bag and pulled out an apple and handed it to Daisuke. Daisuke took the apple and ate it slowly, relishing in its taste. After a few bites, he looked at Hikari, who was staring at him intently.

"What?" he asked, taking another bite.

"Huh?" Hikari asked, startled slightly.

"You were staring at me quite hard. Do I have something on my face besides scratches?"

"No."

Daisuke quirked an eyebrow at her, and finished off the apple. "Thanks, I needed that."

"You're welcome."

Daisuke smiled at her, and made another attempt to sit up. This time, Hikari helped him. He propped himself against the wall of the cave for support.

"By the way, how'd you get the apple down from the tree as high as it was?"

"I have my methods. The tree was skinny enough, so I just shook and banged on the tree with my cane until one fell off."

"I guess that's one way to get them. So why am I dressed as a mummy?"

"I just took what I knew from first aid and applied it."

"Looks like you overdid it. Not that I'm trying to put you down, or anything."

"They need to be changed anyway. You're seeping." Se referred to the small pool of blood staining his stomach.

"How many wraps have you been through already?" he asked as she started unwrapping the bandages from around his shoulder and torso.

"Enough to patch the whole gang including our digimon. It's amazing that you didn't die from the amount of blood you lost."

"I thought I was going to lose more than that when I was fighting that bear. Feels like half my leg is missing." He looked down at his wrapped leg. "Hope I don't need a tetanus shot for this." He looked back up at Hikari, who was staring at him with a puzzled expression on her face.

"What?"

"You were in control of yourself that whole time?"

"Yeah. What, you thought I lost my mind and became a berserker?"

"I'm not sure what that is, but you looked pretty scary."

"Sorry. I try to avoid doing that." Hikari finished taking off the bandages. To her utter astonishment, a lot of the cuts and gashes had partially scabbed over, but were still bleeding, just not profusely.

"Your scars..." she started off.

"Scabbed over pretty quick?" he finished off for her. "That happens a lot when I get scratched. I don't know why though."

"Either way, we have to put new bandages on them so they can heal faster." She went back into the bag to get the peroxide and some gauze.

"So now you're a nurse?" Daisuke asked jokingly. "I thought you were going to be a school teacher?"

Hikari rolled her eyes at him as she poured a little of the peroxide on the gauze and started cleaning the large wound on his chest.

"How did you do it?" she asked him.

"Do what?"

"How'd you keep from screaming out in pain when the bear bit you?"

"Fear and anger can have that kind of effect on you in dire situations."

"Usually when someone fears for their life, they try to find a way out of that type of situation."

"Except it wasn't my life that I was fearing for," he said, causing Hikari to stop and look at him. "I was fearing for yours. I figured if someone had to die, I would rather it be me than you."

"You were willing to put your life on the line for me?"

"Why not? Someone has to live to tell the story of what went on here. Besides, I'd be content knowing that you'd continue to live a happy life."

Hikari was quite astonished by this. "You're not lying to me, are you?" she asked at length.

"Woman, what do I have to lie to you for? You should know me better than that by now."

Her eyebrows furowed a little in puzzlement, then she went back to cleaning his cuts. 'After all this time, he still cares about me,' she thought. 'Then why did he stop talking to me all those years ago?'

"Can I ask you a question Daisuke?"

"I'm sure you can."

"Why did you stop talking to me back in high school?" She was at his abdomen now, cleaning the long gashes there.

"Why are you still stuck on past events?"

"I just want to clear it up, is all."

"Well, let me ask you something, and maybe you'll get your answer. Why do you think I stopped talking to you? And trust me, you don't have to think too hard, either."

Hikari thought for a second, then sighed, as the answer was pretty obvious. "Takeru, right?" she asked.

'Figures,' she thought. 'They were always bitter towards each other, and still are.'

"No," he said simply, shocking Hikari. "He had nothing to do with why I stopped talking to you. You were the reason."

"Me? How?"

"Remember what I said before? About how we used to be towards each other? You may not have thought much of it, but you let your guard down when Takeru moved back. I'll admit, I was jealous of the fact that he knew you longer than I did, but it was no excuse for the way I acted."

"What do you mean by me letting my guard down?"

"You used to not let anyone manipulate you into abandoning your friends."

"I never abandoned you."

"Not physically, but mentally. That's what I was trying to get you to understand throughout the years, until the time came when I just said 'Forget it. She's not going to be the same Hikari I knew back in fourth grade.' So, I guess I can say that I was somewhat stuck on the past too, but I grew out of it."

Hikari didn't know what to say. She had never thought about it that way.

"I'm sorry for putting you through this mess," she said. "Somehow, I think it's my fault that you're in this condition now."

"Hey," he said, placing his hand on her cheek and causing her to look into his eyes. "Stop blaming yourself for something in the past. What happened, happened. Everything is not your fault. I had a hand in it too. But it's time to stop looking in the past and focus on what's in front of you, okay?"

She nodded somberly and continued to clean his bruises, now moving up to his neck with a fresh piece of gauze. A million thoughts were going through her head, all of them leaning towards her newfound feelings towards Daisuke. Something about what he said aroused a question: Can old fires be rekindled? She started thinking about her relationship with Takeru. Even though they had known each other since they were children, she didn't know if she could trust him in their relationship, even after all this time. So how would he be if they were to get married? Not only that, he makes her feel as if she's being rushed sometimes.

'Is he really my true love?' she thought. 'or is he just a life-long infatuation? Everyone thinks we're together by fate because our digimon can turn into angels. So the more pressing question is, am I in love with him, or is he just with me, and I'm just following along like some lap dog and his master?'

"Ow! What are you trying to do, break off my neck?" Daisuke asked, shrinking away from her hand as she applied more pressure than she meant to.

"Sorry," she said, drawing back slightly.

"That's okay. What got you so fired up?"

"I was thinking about my relationship with Takeru, wondering if it's authentic or not. Do you think me and him are together because of fate?"

"Honestly, I think you guys are together because you thought it was the right thing to do. Just because your digimon can turn into angels doesn't mean that you're united by destiny. You choose who you want to be with. But always make sure that he's the person that you want to be with, and that you know that he's the one that will make you happy."

Daisuke was right. Of course he was right, and Hikari knew it. Again, she was at a loss for words.

"I never knew you could be so deep," she said, moving to his left cheek.

"I never knew I had a cut on my cheek either," he replied. "Where'd it come from?"

"I think it's from when the bear knocked you on the ground."

"He must have hit me pretty hard. I felt my brain spinning for a second," he said with a chuckle. Hikari looked at him and chuckled back. She dabbed at his cheek a few more times, then held it there and looked into his eyes, which were currently diverted away from hers. Daisuke felt her eyes looking into his, and he looked up into hers.

'Uh oh,' he thought to himself, as her eyes took on a passionate look.

'I can't believe how much I want him right now,' Hikari thought, feeling her body temperature rise. Before she knew it, her body had moved on its own accord, and she found herself in a deep kiss with Daisuke. Daisuke was startled at first, and his first impulse was to push her back, but something deep inside him told him to wait. He figured, what could it hurt, so he just closed his eyes and kissed her back. Neither of them knew it, but as they kissed, their bodies started to glow faintly. Hikari glowed a light pink, and Daisuke glowed a pale yellow. What happened was a miraculous event. Hikari's ankle healed completely, and all of Daisuke's cuts, bruises, and gashes had vanished, leaving no trace on his skin.

The kiss lasted for half a minute. Hikari backed away from him slowly, opening her eyes and looking at him. After a second, Daisuke opened his eyes as well and looked into hers. He was apparently a little shocked. He didn't expect Hikari to do anything like that.

"Why did you kiss me?" he asked.

"It..felt right," she said slowly. He looked ather puzzled for a second, then noticed that he wasn't feeling any pain in his body anymore. He looked down and saw no more scars adorning his body.

"What happened?" he breathed.

"Your scars, they-" Hikari started as she got up, and noticed that her ankle had been comletely healed. "And my ankle's okay too! Daisuke, what's-"

"I don't know," he said, unwrapping the bandages from his leg so he could look at it. "When we were kissing, I felt this warmness about me, as if I was glowing or something."

"I felt the same thing, but it was very familiar. It felt like the time I started glowing when Machindramon killed those Numemon all those years ago."

"That was based on reaction, right?"

"Right. I loved those Numemon, even though they weren't the cleanest digimon in the world, and-" She stopped when she realized what she said. Daisuke heard it too, and an astonished expression crossed his face.

"Does that mean..." he asked slowly.

"Apparently so," she said with a faint smile. She sank to her knees again and sat in front of him. "This must be destiny, Daisuke. We were meant for each other, but we didn't realize it until now."

Daisuke's expression saddened a bit. "Even if that were so, we can't be together," he said.

"Why not?"

"You're about to get married, Hikari. How can we be together when you're going to be with someone else?"

"I'll call it off! I'll tell Takeru that things aren't working between us,so-"

"That'll only cause trouble," he said, shaking his head. "I can't let you do that."

"But Daisuke-"

"I can't. I'm not going to ruin a good thing for you."

"But you won't be! I want to be with you!"

"You don't understand, Hikari. No doubt everyone thinks that we've already done something. Takeru, of course, might think I raped you and would try to fight me."

"I'll tell him you didn't. He'll believe me."

"But his anger would tell him otherwise. Hikari, I would love to be with you, but as long as you're engaged, it can never be."

Hikari looked at him, her bottom lip quivering. She started tugging at the ring, trying to get it off, but Daisuke gently closed his hands around hers.

"Don't do this, Hikari," he said. "It'll only complicate things."

"I don't want to lose you Daisuke," she said sadly.

"You won't. I'll always be around."

"But what will you do? Who will you be with?"

"I don't mind being by myself. I'm already used to it anyway, so what does it matter? I can't be with Saki, because that's just asking for trouble." He cracked a light grin. "As I've said before, as long as you're happy, I'm okay."

"And being with you will make me happy, Daisuke. Don't you see, we're destined to be together! What happened between us proves it so!"

"And if it didn't happen, would you still love me now?"

Hikari was about to answer, before he put his finger to her lips. "Before you answer that question, think carefully on it." He moved his finger from her lips. Hikari thought for a second, weighing her answer. She thought about everything he's ever done for her until now, and realized what her answer would be.

"Yes," she said, compassionately. "My God, Daisuke. The things I've put you through! I wish I could just take it all back and set things straight!"

"But you can't," he said. "Neither can I. We just have to keep going forward with our lives. Make me a promise?"

"What?"

"Promise me that you will prosper in your life, wherever it takes you, and that you will continue to smile, even when times are hard."

"I will," she said. "Can you make me a promise?"

"What?"

"Promise me that you'll be there when I need someone to run to."

"I promise." They came together in a passionate hug. Hikari held on to him as if he were a lifeline, and Daisuke did his best to not squeeze too hard. Both of them tried not to cry. Then Hikari decided to go a bit further.

"Daisuke?"

"Hmm?"

She moved back so she was looking him in the eyes, and kept her hands on his shoulders, and his hands were on her waist.

"Kiss me," she said. "I want our time together here, however long it may be, to end on solid ground."

"On one condition," he said.

"What's that?"

"If we decide to take this further, there will be no intercourse between us, for it is not my place to do so."

"Okay," she said. She was a little disappointed that they won't have actual sex, but she also understood what he was saying. So they came together in a kiss that held more meaning than the first one, except this one wasn't on impulse. This one was out of pure love.

Later on, Daisuke and Hikari laid on the blanket wrapped in each other's arms and stared at the moon.

"Now that I think about it," Hikari said. "I'm glad it was you who I got stranded on this island with."

"Me too," Daisuke said. He kissed the top of her head. "Guess what?"

"What?"

"Chicken butt," he said, grinning. Hikari playfully slapped his chest, causing him to chuckle. "Seriously, though. I found out how to work that morse code machine."

"Really?"

"Yeah. There was a book lying around in the ship's bridge, and it just so happened to be it. I sent out an S.O.S. I'm sure someone picked it up, and is able to track it here."

"That's great. Personally, I hope they take their time. I want this moment to last for a while longer."

"So do I." He tightened his embrace around her, and she moved her body a little more on top of his. "Goodnight, Angel of Light."

"Goodnight, Bearer of Miracles," Hikari said, as they both cuddled against each other and went to sleep.

I have no excuse as to why I was late with this chapter. Thank you for your patience, and _please_ put the rocks down. I bruise easily.


	8. Our Way Home

I do what I do when I can do it.

Disclaimer: I own nothing. Hopefully someone in Japan gives me a million bucks for this.

**Chapter 8: Our Way Home**

"Sir, we got something," one of the crew members said, coming up to Go at the Japanese Embassy. He went there to check on the progress of the search.

"Thank God," he said with a heavy sigh. "What is it?"

"It's a distress signal, written in old morse code. All it says is S.O.S repeatedly."

"Was the signal able to be pinpointed to its source?"

"Yes, it was traced back to a large seacraft," a female from the Costal S&R(Search and Rescue) Team said, turning from the monitor she was currently watching. "It seemed to come from somewhere near the eastern border of Japan, about 50 degrees Longitude, 38 degrees Latitude."

"Seiko, get me a map," Go said, turning to the crew member of the name.

"Aye, Cap'n!" Seiko rushed off to get a map. "Here, Cap'n," he said, returning with one. Go took it and spread it out onto a nearby table.

"50 degrees Longitude, 38 degrees Latitude, you say?" he asked, placing a compass on the pinpoints.

"Yes," said the rescue worker.

Go traced a line from Shanghai to the appointed source.

"It's close to where we were sailing, about a day's travel from here," one of the weather watchman said, looking on.

"Then that's where we search," said Go.

"I'm not trying to be a pessimist or anything," said Seiko. "But it could be a ship that just strayed off coast and tried to contact help."

"If it were, it would _radio _in help, not use morse code," Go said, looking back at him. He turned back to the map. "The only time any ship at all would use morse code is if it were stranded, or there were no radio signals in the area. Has anyone heard any reports about a ship or any other seacraft missing at any time?"

"There was one report on the news a few weeks ago about a cargo ship carrying a bunch of wild and exotic animals to a zoo in Beijing that turned up missing," said an officer. "Obviously, it was never found. There weren't even any crew members rescued."

"Weird, but it may be connected. I suggest we search the area by helicopter. At least from up there we can see what's going on."

---------------------

"Have any of you seen Takeru?" Ken asked the gang. Everyone shook their heads no. It was about eight thirty in the morning, and they decided to eat breakfast at one of the local restaurants.

"Come to think of it, I haven't seen that girl, Saki either," Rosa said.

"Nobody ever sees that girl, so that's nothing new," Miyako said. "And I bet you she's right behind me, too."

"You must have eyes in the back of your head," Saki said, grinning as Miyako turned around in her seat to look at the girl, who was turned in her seat as well.

"How do you appear out of nowhere like that?"

"Secret arts of the ninja. Though what the secret is, I don't know."

"What are you doing up so early in the morning anyway?"

"Same thing you guys are doing, eating breakfast. Though I never thought China would have an IHOP here."

"Well, pancakes are pretty international," Miyako said.

"That's true. Now if only my mom would make omelettes as good as this."

"What kind did you get?"

"Ham and cheese."

"Keeping it simple?"

"Yep."

"I don't mean to interrupt, but have you seen Takeru?" asked Iori. "We've been looking for him all morning."

"Not in the past few hours," Saki said, shrugging. "I'd suggest trying his room, but that'll seem quite pointless, seeing as you've already looked there."

"How'd you know we went there?" asked Rosa.

"I don't, but that would be the place to start for most people. Why are you looking for him anyway?"

"We just wanted to see how he was doing," said Ken.

"I'm sure he's doing fine, if anything. Maybe he just wanted to spend time by himself."

"Maybe. We'll continue to look for him." He and the rest of the gang got up to leave.

"Have a good time," Saki said as they passed her by. She went back to eating her omelette.

'I am curious as to where he is,' she thought. 'I went to his room before I came here to see if he wanted to come with me, but he was already gone. I hope he's doing okay.'

--------------------

Meanwhile, at the bank of a river, Takeru sat amongst a cluster of rocks with his knees drawn to his chest, watching a family of ducks swimming by. He was quite distraught about yesterday's events, wondering what he was going to do now.

'Why do people always feel bad _after _they do something they weren't supposed to?' he thought. 'I don't even know if I can justify this. What am I thinking? Hikari probably did the same thing with Daisuke.' He scoffed at that thought. 'Yeah, like that'll ever happen. There's no way she would want to do anything with _him_.' He looked behind him when he heard the rocks shift, and saw Ken walking towards him.

"How in the world did you find me?" he asked.

"I go to solitary places when I have a lot on my mind too," Ken said, sitting on a nearby rock. "Wanna talk?"

"Not really. I don't have much of anything to talk about."

"Either that, or you just don't want to tell me what's on your mind."

Takeru grunted in frustration. "I'm worried about Hikari. There, I said it. Happy now?"

Ken sighed. "You've got to be the biggest liar I've ever met," he said.

"Huh?" Takeru snapped his head towards Ken.

"You heard me. There's no way that you would be worried about Hikari this long."

"And why not?"

"Because for one, the nature of a human doesn't allow itself to worry for two days straight. I'm sure you had a good time somewhere between them."

"So?"

"So, I'm saying that this tells me that something else is troubling you."

"And I'm saying that you should stay out of my personal business." He turned back to the water.

"Look, I'm just trying to help. There's no need for you to get anal at me."

"I don't recall asking for your help. As a matter of fact, I don't recall asking for _anyone's _help. I just wanted to be left alone, minding my own business. But _nooo_, you guys had to come meddling-" he stopped mid sentence when he looked up at Ken, who had that hard gleam in his eyes from when he was the Digimon Kaiser.

"Takeru," he said slowly. "I'm going to tell you straight. Right now, it's taking every bit of my mental strength to keep from hitting you in the mouth. I'm already ticked nine ways to Sunday by your attitude, and now you're getting quite ridiculous." His face went cool again. "Now, please tell me what's bothering you."

Takeru looked as if he wanted to cry. His hands clutched his jeans so hard that his knuckles turned white. He turned back to the water.

"I don't want to talk about it," he said.

"Suit yourself," said Ken, getting up. "Though I should tell you that it isn't a good idea to hold stuff like that inside you the whole time. It'll start to hurt after a while." He turned to leave.

"I did something bad," Takeru blurted out. Ken turned back to him. "Something that I extremely regret doing, and I know that I'm going to pay for it later."

"And that would be?" Ken asked, sitting back down.

"I..." Takeru took a deep breath. "I slept with another woman," he mumbled, dropping his head.

"Uh huh," Ken said, not the least bit shocked by this revelation. "And I venture to guess that I know this girl?"

"You all do," Takeru said with a huff.

"Enough said. And now, you're trying to find out how to break this to Hikari when you see her again?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, this is something that could ruin us forever."

"And who's fault is that?"

"You don't have to rub it in," Takeru said, looking at Ken.

"How do you know that she didn't do anything with Daisuke?"

"Why would she? She doesn't even like him like that. Of course, knowing him he would probably try something perverted with her, like watching her from behind a bush while she's naked."

"Think for a second, Takeru. Would he actually do that, or is that from your imagination?"

Takeru shifted a little. "I-I don't know. I guess it's from my frustration."

"Or, you're just trying to find an excuse to justify yourself. See, Daisuke may be many things, but he's no perve. I've known him long enough to figure that out. And in case you haven't noticed, he has grown up, while you're still stuck in the prehistoric age of pre-teens."

"Huh?"

"Dude, you're twenty-one years old, and you still act as if Hikari's the only girl on the face of the earth worth being with."

"Are you saying I should leave her?" Takeru asked, getting slightly terse.

"I didn't say anything. But what I _am _saying is that you should ask yourself if you really love this girl or not, or is it just for show."

"I confessed my love for her back in fifth grade. Doesn't that count for anything?"

"Aren't you about dense. That was fifth grade, this is now. You guys didn't get together until senior graduation, and even then I couldn't tell if you two were serious about each other. Besides, things change over a period of time."

"But you and Miyako have been together since Junior High."

"We didn't officially get together until our senior year. We just picked around until then. But we're not talking about my relationship, we're talking about you. What are you going to do about this?"

"I'm not sure what to do."

"Do what every man should do when they do something stupid: Tell her."

Takeru was shocked. "Are you crazy?! She'll kill me!"

"Hey, you did it, so you need to own up to it. If you don't tell her, she'll find out by some other means. Either way, you're screwed."

Takeru lowered his head. Ken patted him on his back sympathetically.

"Look, I won't tell anyone else. It'll be just between you and me." He paused. "And Saki as well." Takeru looked at him.

"Sorry," Ken said. "Just make sure you get this straightened out. If you don't you'll make things worse than it already is." He got up to leave, carefully moving over the rocks back onto the street. Takeru sat there for a bit longer, then got up with a frustrated grunt and made his way back to the street.

-------------

Daisuke woke up with a start, the morning sun shining on his back. He looked around, taking stock of the situation. Somehow, he was sleeping outside on a blanket in only his boxers. He felt a light pressure on his chest and looked down. There, cuddled against him with her arms wrapped around him and sleeping soundly was Hikari in just her panties.

'What the...!' he thought, his eyes widening. 'What did we do last night?' He searched his mind for the answer. Yesterday's events came back to him, from the fight with the bear to the promises they made to each other. He smiled down at her, then began contemplating whether he should move or not.

'If I move, then she'll definitey wake up and wonder what's going on,' he thought. 'And if I stay, I'll have a better chance on explaining what went down, in case she doesn't remember anything. I'd better stay then.' A few moments later, Hikari woke up to te site of a muscular chest and soft, strong arms wrapped around her.

'Who...?' she thought. She looked up to see Daisuke looking down at her with a pleased, but forlorn expression on his face.

"Uh, hey," he said sheepishly. 'This should be the part where she screams.' To his astonishment, she didn't do it. She just looked up at him slightly puzzled.

"What are you so nervous about?" she asked. Daisuke's face went slack.

"You...remember what happened last night?" he asked.

"Of course, silly!" she said, snuggling up against him. "We made a promise to each other."

"Wow. I thought you were about to go all guru-guru on me."

"Now why would I want to do that?"

"Well, uh...I'm just saying, you know...I thought you were going to-"

"What, forget? I'm not going to forget something like that." She tightened her arms around him, and he did the same.

'Nevermind then,' he thought.

Later on that day, after they had taken their baths and Daisuke found his goggles (which were cracked in the lenses), they treked back to the ship. Since they had nothing better to do, they milled about the deck. At Hikari's insistence, Daisuke proceeded to show her a few defensive moves in case she ever got into any kind of trouble. He even showed her a one-two-knee combination from Kickboxing, then gave her a small demo of Wushu. The day was nearly spent when they decided to head back to the cave. They made their way off the ship and walked across the beach, hand in hand.

"Just where did you learn all of this stuff anyway?" Hikari asked.

"Trade secret," he said with a grin. "Actually, I taught myself some things for a while, then I started signing up for a lot of martial art programs as I got older. Through it all, I was taught a lot of things like self-control, discipline, honor, among other things. I even gained confidence about myself as well."

"Daisuke, you've always had confidence."

"It probably seemed like that to everyone, but deep down inside, I doubted my abilities in some situations, despite the courage I showed."

"Oh. What about this survival class you took?"

"I took that for a just cause, in case we had to go back to he Digital World at some point of time, and we got stuck somwhere that required a means of survival in a dire situation."

"What did they teach you?"

"How to read maps, land navigation, night navigation, how to use a compass, how to read the subtle changes in the wind, map out the stars, pretty much a whole slew of things."

"Changes in the wind?"

"Yeah. By listening to the wind, you can tell what's close to you, or how far you have to go to get somewhere. Depending on how strong or weak the wind is, you're close to a place that has lots of water, like the ocean for instance. Since it constantly blows strong, you can tell just how far you are from the water. Deserts tend to have weak wind patterns."

"They can also blow strong winds as well."

"True, but that's only because desert winds circulate constantly, getting stronger with each passing. That's how some dust devils are formed."

"Wow. That reminds me of a school baseball game I went to with my family a long time ago. The field looked more like a sand lot than a baseball field. The game was going pretty good, but all of a sudden, the wind started picking up, and a tall dust devil showed up out of nowhere. It got so strong that it actually grew in size until it looked like a tornado. Everyone had to duck down so no sand would get in their eyes. No one was hurt, but a few things did get tossed around."

"I wish I could have seen that."

"It's on Youtube. Someone recorded it."

"I'll have to look it up when-" He stopped in mid sentence.

"What?"

"You hear that?"

"Hear what?"

"It sounds like...rotors."

Hikari strained her ears. "I don't hear anything."

"Come on," he said, and they began walking again. As they got closer to the small hill leading up to the cave, Hikari stopped.

"Daisuke, I hear something!" she exclaimed. "It sounds like a helicopter."

"My thoughts exactly," he said, breaking off into a run up the hill, Hikari following close behind. At the top of the hill Hikari ran into the cave and searched the bag for the orange flare gun, while Daisuke waited. As soon as she came back out of the cave, they ran through the woods, up the hill, to the cliff where they first arrived. There, afar off on the horizon was a small dot flying through the air towards them that constantly let out two streams of brown smoke from the back, and it was heading their way.

"It _is _a helicopter!" Hikari exclaimed. "Why can we hear it so clearly from way back here?"

"Wind carries sound, like water. And since the wind is blowing this way, we can hear the chopper."

"Cool," she said, handing him the flare gun. "I'd rather you do it. I wouldn't want something to go wrong."

"Okay," Daisuke said, taking the gun.

-------------

"We are about fifteen miles from the contact point," said Go, looking down at the map in the back of the helicopter. "This is were the message originated from."

"There's a lot of water down here," said Mrs. Hibiki, looking out of the window. "Not much to see when you're on the boat."

"That's because there's not much to see on a boat," said Go, grinning at his wife. She wanted to come with him to give female console to Hikari when the two were found.

"Uh, Mr. Hibiki," said one of the pilots. Go looked around his seat out of the windshield. A large bright flash followed by a trail of smoke erupted from a distant island not far from them.

"A flare!" Go exclaimed. "That must be them! Pilot, head to that island!" The pilot opened the throttle to nine knots, and the helicopter shot off towards the island.

"I'm sure that's the search party looking for us," said Hikari.

"Yeah," Daisuke said, his voice dropping a little. Hikari looked at him a little concerned. Without warning, she threw her arms around him and buried her head in his chest. Daisuke was startled at first, then put his arms around her. They stayed like that for a few minutes as the sound of the helicopter got closer. They parted and stood at length, holding hands and looking into each other's eyes.

"I'm going to miss you," Hikari said. Daisuke lifted her chin with a finger and smiled.

"You go and be a married woman," he said. "Live a happy life." They came together again in a kiss. They parted as the helicopter swooped towards them, then overhead and slowly came down a few yards away from them. The hatch opened, and Go and his wife stepped out, a blanket in Go's hand for Daisuke since he was mysteriously missing a shirt. They ran over to the two, Go heading to Daisuke with the blanket, and Mrs. Hibiki went to Hikari.

"Thank goodness you two are alright!" Mrs. Hibiki cried, hugging Hikari.

"What happened to your shirt?" Go asked Daisuke, handing him the blanket. Daisuke looked over at Hikari, and she winked at him.

"I was attacked by a bear," Daisuke said simply, looking at Go again. Go looked at him puzzled.

"Long story," Daisuke added.

"Well, in any case, it's good to see you're alright. Let's get you guys back, shall we?"

-----------

It wasn't long before they were in the air, and heading back to the Japanese Embassy in Shanghai. Daisuke and Hikari fell asleep on the way, Hikari stretched out on the bench and her head resting on Daisuke's lap, and Daisuke's arm was draped over her shoulder. Go looked at them in awe, marvelling how closely attatched they seemed to be. There was something else about them that Go couldn't quite put into perspective.

"They look cute together, don't they hon?" Mrs. Hibiki asked in a low voice.

"Yeah, they do," Go said in kind. "But there's something else about them as well. There seems to be a type of uh..."

"Glow?"

"That's it. What do you think it signifies?"

"My guess is that they found out that they need each other more than anything, and haven't realized yet just how much they do."

Go looked at them once again. "I hope things work together for them in the end," he said.

It was nearing dawn by the time they reached the embassy. Daisuke kept the blanket wrapped around his body to avoid anyone looking at him. He didn't like showing his body much, and for some reason, young women were in abundance at the embassy manning the computers there and many of them set their eyes on him as he passed by. Despite the blanket he had wrapped around him, he felt as if their eyes burned through and were staring at his body. Daisuke felt unsettled under their gaze, and Hikari sent them menacing looks which told them to divert their eyes. He was glad to get out of there and into the limo that was waiting for them. On the way to the ship, Go and Mrs. Hibiki told them of the events that transpired, and how their friends were worried sick about them. Daisuke and Hikari couldn't wait to see them.

"That guy, Takeru, kept beating himself up over you," Go told Hikari. Hikari grimaced a little and squeezed Daisuke's hand under the blanket. She started wishing they were back on the island. Daisuke returned the squeeze gently and rubbed her hand with his thumb.

"I'm sure he'll be glad to see her," he said, keeping his voice leveled. Go saw that Daisuke didn't really want to let Hikari go, but he knew that he had to do it. Hikari didn't say anything. She scooted closer to Daisuke and rested her head on his shoulder. She wanted to cry. Daisuke kept his eyes forward, not wanting to look at her, but Mrs. Hibiki knew he was trying not to cry as well. She looked at her husband with pleading eyes. Go knew what she was getting at, and ordered the driver to stop the car.

"Go ahead and let it out," he said, getting a box of tissue from a side cabinet. Daisuke opened the blanket and embraced Hikari in a hug as she buried her face in his chest and started crying her eyes out. Daisuke didn't care that his chest got wet from her tears. He held her and cried silently with her. Mrs. Hibiki felt tears welling up in her eyes just from watching. She wished there was more that she could do for them, but knew that it would be futile. Go watched them with a sad expression on his face.

'This is very hard for them,' he thought. As Daisuke and Hikari finished crying and dried their eyes with the tissue provided, they were on their way to the ship again. Go had called one of his officers and told him to wake everyone up. By the time they reached the ship, almost everyone was out of their rooms and standing near the ramp. Takeru headed towards the crowd wondering what was going on. He came up to the back of the crowd, standing a few feet away from Saki. They looked at each other for a second, trying to find words to say to each other. Neither one of them smiled at each other, nor kept the gaze for long as they turned back to the front of the ship.

"LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, I HAVE AN ANNOUNCEMENT TO MAKE," Go said in the megaphone that was given to him. "AS YOU ALL KNOW, TWO OF THE PASSENGERS ABOARD MY YACHT TURNED UP MISSING AFTER A TERRIBLE STORM A FEW DAYS AGO. THEY HAVE BEEN FOUND, AND ARE NOW BACK HERE WITH US. PLEASE WELCOME BACK DAISUKE MOTOMIYA, AND HIKARI YAGAMI."

The crowd cheered as Daisuke and Hikari made their way up the ramp to greet everyone, but no one couldn't have been happier than Takeru, who pushed through the crowd to get to Hikari, and promptly scooped her up in a big hug. The crowd cheered even more as they watched. Daisuke put on a bleak smile and clapped along with them, but his face dropped when Takeru looked at him sourly. Daisuke returned the gaze without a word, but then turned towards the sound of his name being called.

"Daisuke!" Saki cried, running up to him with her arms stretched out. Daisuke braced himself as she plowed into him, sending them both onto the ground. The rest of the gang came up behind her. Ken sent Takeru a stern look; he diverted his eyes and focused on the little display that Saki and Daisuke showed.

"I'm glad to see you too, Saki," Daisuke said, patting her on her back. "Now get off me so I can breathe!" Saki grinned as she got up.

"Are you alright?" Miyako asked Daisuke.

"Does it look like I'm alright?" he retorted, as Ken and Iori helped him up. As they did, the blanket fell from him, exposing his ripped jeans and shirtless body. Cat calls and whistles were sounded from many of the women in the crowd, followed by an "OW!" from a guy. This sent many people into fits of laughter, and Daisuke, who was turning red fom blushing and embarassement, quickly grabbed up the blanket and wrapped it around his body again.

"I'm going to go change clothes," he said, quickly making his way to his room. Takeru and Hikari went away as well, as did everyone else now that the spectacle was over. Saki watched them go. She had him for a night, but now he was gone again. She stuffed her hands in the pockets of her jammies, and walked back to her room.

------------

It was decided that they should head back to Japan. Three days out of the trip were lost, thanks to the storm and the two missing passengers, but people had fun nonetheless. Daisuke and Hikari themselves were ready to get back home as well. They had enough sea-faring adventures, and were ready to put it behind them. After Go was reassured that everyone of his guests were present and accounted for, they were off. During dinner, in which Daisuke and Hikari ate until their hearts' content, they told their friends of the events that happened on the island, carefully leaving out the part where they were intimate. Hikari capitalized on how Daisuke was a big help to her, from how he helped her with a twisted ankle, and found food for them.

"How'd you lose your shirt?" Iori asked.

"We were attacked by a bear," Daisuke said.

"It didn't leave any marks on you?" Ken asked.

"Well..." Daisuke started off nervously.

"The bear was only able to get his shirt because we ran away," Hikari cut in. Daisuke grinned at her, thankful for the save. Hikari smiled back at him. Takeru saw this, and got a little flustered.

"So what else did you two do?" he said in a suspicious tone. Daisuke and Hikari sweatdropped.

"We just talked," Hikari said.

"About?" he pressed, leveling a glare at Daisuke

"Hey, leave them alone," Rosa said. "Your fiancee's back, right? Why are you grilling them with stupid questions? If that's all they did, then that's all they did. So let's drop the subject already." Daisuke looked at her and smiled. He was going to have to thank her later for that save.

After dinner, things went on as usual; people milled about the deck and below, finding things to do. Daisuke was at the back of the boat, watching as a pod of dolphins splashed about in the streamline that trailed behind. He always found them amazing, how they held little fear of humans. His thoughts turned to Hikari, and the promises they made towards each other. He so badly wanted to make love to her, but he knew he couldn't. She wasn't his, and he wasn't hers. But he was content. They were stranded for three days, but she was his for a night. That's more than enough.

'I'm not going to see her again,' he thought. 'But I'll always cherish that night.'

"And here we find the famous castaway, Daisuke Motomiya, lost in thought," said a playful voice behind him. "Who knows what's running through that thick cranium he calls a head!"

Daisuke didn't need to turn around to see who it was. "Hey, Saki," he said.

"Not much in the playing mood, huh?"

"No, I guess I'm not. I got a lot of things on my mind."

"Like dolphins?" she asked, referring to the pod that was still following the boat.

Daisuke smirked. "I wish I was one right now," he said. Saki turned and leaned her back against the rail. She regarded her friend with a mixture of awe and contempt.

"What did you two really do?" she suddenly asked.

"Why do you ask that?" he asked, slightly startled.

"Because you usually don't go along with my jokes, plus you have this radiant look about your face."

"Radiant look?"

"Yeah. You seem to have some type of glow to you. Something happened between you two, huh?"

"Nothing special that would refer me to Bruce Leroy. This ain't The Last Dragon." Saki looked at him and chuckled.

"Let's just say we came to a mutual understanding," he said. "We parted on friendly terms."

"So what will you do now?"

"Honestly, I don't know. I kind of entertained the thought of moving to another college to finish my studies. I have enough money saved up to do so."

"Where will you go if you decide?"

"I'm not sure. Maybe a college in the country, or somewhere in America."

"All the way there?"

Daisuke shrugged. "It's just a thought."

Saki looked at him. He was willing to go somewhere that would separate him from the girl he loves. Then again, she thought about leaving as well, just to get away from all the drama that's been going on lately. She turned towards the water.

"Whatever you decide, you'll always have my support," she said.

"Thanks," he said with a smile.

------------

The yacht made port a day later. Go once again apologized to everyone for the troubles they had, and hoped that they wouldn't hold it against him. He extended an extra apology to Daisuke and Hikari, and told them that he hopes everything works out in the end for them.

"Thank you for taking care of us," Hikari said with a bow. Everyone else did the same. Go looked at the sympathetically as he returned the bow.

"I wonder what will happen to them in the end," Go asked himself.

"Whatever it is, it'll be for the best," said his wife, coming up behind him. "We've done what we could."

"That's true, but I wish there was more that we could do."

"When it comes to the matter of the heart, there's not much you can do. We can just only hope for the best."

"Yeah. Let's get the yacht docked and go home."

------------

Things have been wacky lately, that's why it took a while for me to update. This chapter got off to a slow start as well. Sorry.


End file.
